A new article written in collaboration with Professor Uchida has been published in the British Journal of Social Psychology. The co-authors Dr. Gobel and Dr. Choi are both international researchers who stayed at Uchida-sensei’s lab during the period of the study.

The paper explores how social power fundamentally shapes the way people think and behave, from playgrounds to boardrooms. Specifically, the paper distinguishes between achieved power construal, where power is perceived as being based on personal merit and achievement, and entrusted power construal, where power is perceived as being granted by others.

The findings reveal that powerholders who adopt an entrusted power construal tend to exhibit greater psychological other-orientation (the tendency to take another’s perspective and feel what they feel) as well as stronger altruistic behavioral tendencies, compared to those who adopt an achieved power construal.

To learn more and read the article, please follow this link.

Reference: 

Gobel, M. S., Choi, E., & Uchida, Y. (2025). Entrusted power enhances psychological other‐orientation and altruistic behavioural tendencies. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64(2), e12857.