I just got my copy of the latest issue of Greater Good in the mail. I frankly had not even heard of this magazine (published out of UC Berkeley) until I was invited to contribute an article on how power can turn people in workplace jerks. But now that I’ve started following the magazine, I am most impressed, as they do wonderful job striking a balance between taking an evidence-based approach and publishing articles that everyone can enjoy and use. They get all kinds of great people to write articles, like Philip Zimbardo and Daniel Goleman. The topics include things like forgiveness, why we ignore people who need help, compassion, and family. You can read also the whole magazine online and download PDFs. Look around the current issues and past issues to find what strikes your fancy.
I was especially taken with Dacher Keltner’s article in current issue on The Power Paradox. He argues that — contrary to the claims of many experts, going back to Machiavelli — that people who are selected for powerful positions and are able to hold them are characterized by modesty and empathy. BUT he shows that being put in a position of power turns people into them into worse decision-makers, makes them ore likely to act on their whims and desires, and makes them more likely to interrupt others, to to speak out of turn, to fail to look at others when they are speaking, and to tease others in hostile ways. I’ve written before (drawing on research by Keltner and others) that power can turn people into assholes; but his research and review suggests that it is even worse that: Power can turn people into stupid assholes!
Consider this gem from Keltner: My own research has found that people with power tend to behave like
patients who have damaged their brain’s orbitofrontal lobes (the region
of the frontal lobes right behind the eye sockets), a condition that
seems to cause overly impulsive and insensitive behavior. Thus the
experience of power might be thought of as having someone open up your
skull and take out that part of your brain so critical to empathy and
socially-appropriate behavior."
I think they did a great job with issue on power, and I will be following the Greater Good closely.
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