At very beginning, in the wide field of Social and Human Sciences, the most popular definition of power arises from the famous professor in political science Robert Dahl in his book “Who governs? ”. According to Dahl “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do”. Usually, power is characterized by the process of interaction involving the individuals in society. In spite of the fact that the collective representation couples force to power, it is actually determined by the willingness to act reaching our explicit goals or interests. As stated again in collective representation, and more included in social science, the concept of power has a fundamentally domination aspect. As such, this touches a commandment or a control dimension between individuals, and a mutual obedience.
As set out above, authority through power take the various dimensions into account. For this reason Social Psychology aimed to lay out by experiment, and in its deep literature, its whys and wherefores. When it comes to the most famous investigation the types of power explained are those which not consider the hierarchical relationship. It tends to undertake an exploration of the social environment influence on people. So, in this short article we offer the main aspects that have come to light across the wide knowledge of social psychology. In this way, there is a full array of strategy that can be used to introduce this authority.
What Authority needs to be?
Throughout the history of societies, the authority was in general affiliate to the Government. Notwithstanding, the figure of authority can be deduced from an individual capacity. Human sciences call it leadership. The latter goes back to a successful identification, indeed subordinates projection to the leader. Nowadays this concept tend to be more various and diverse than the classic design. But we can relate some fundamental aspects of authority that is considered majorly by social and human sciences.
The Knowledge
The knowledge resources may vary differently to the diverse figures of authority. According to the military commander, for example, this knowledge refers to the ability to face the danger, which built their prestige of great leader. Furthermore, and talking about the managers in organizational structure, this knowledge includes being aware of the newest data, being familiar with the scientific and relational expertise needed in corporation. These are the conditions to be fulfilled which allowed the authority implementation.
The Legitimacy
Basically there are three types of power legitimacy. Far away for our days, the legitimacy has been considered has holy, or simply sacred, according to the royalty and the old chief of the traditional society. Then appears a form of scientific or state legitimacy. And in the modern era of our time, we share the idea of a rational legitimacy rooted in the performance of individuals.
The Acknowledgement
One of the fundamental pillars of authority is acknowledgement. The latter necessarily needs the approbation from the subordinates to be put into effect.
The Subservience
Social Psychology has a special relation with the concept of subservience. Relating to the experiences of Milgram showing that two thirds of people abided voluntary by the orders of an alleged figure of authority.
Beyond the social psychology and the psychosociology, we can observe various studies and literature exploring the concept of authority. For instance, in the economy and sociology, Weber M. (1922) explored the various form of legitimacy in relation with the domination dimension; Lewin K. through his scientific research tend to study the impact of the different leadership styles, which shows the domination effectiveness of the democratic model, etc. According to this article, transcending time, we hope, we presented finally the rudiments of the concept of authority, to bring light to the sense of power in individuals and interpersonal relations.
Bibliography:
Revue Sciences Humaines. (2001). Les fondements de l’autorité. Autorité ; de la hiérarchie à la négociation. Mensuel n°117.
I’m Rakotoarijaona A. Adimby. To introduce myself, i’m in a M.A Social and Organisation Psychology. As a student in human and social sciences, I got my Bachelor in Psychology in Madagascar, then I decided to move in Nantes for more opportunities and multidisciplinary work. At last, I intend to become a Psychologist through the pracite way.