Is it lonely at the top?: The independence and interdependence of power holders

Although power is considered by many to be a fundamental way people organize social relationships, we know little about the psychological experience of being powerful, or the underlying mechanisms through which power affects individuals. lit this paper, we review evidence suggesting that power creates a subjective sense of separation and distinctiveness from others, such that high power individuals have more independent self construals than low power individuals. We also review research demonstrating that power is related to the quantity of interconnections with others, such that high power individuals have more interdependent relational structures that? low power individuals. We argue that independent self construals mid interdependent relational structures occur simultaneously, and mutually reinforce one another We review current research that acknowledges both dimensions of power; and propose specific mechanisms that underlie the relationship between independent self construal and interdependent relational structures.