Answer Power Survey
People have different beliefs about power. I’d like to learn about how common these different beliefs are. You can help! Answer the embedded survey, which will also give you personalized feedback on your own approaches to power.
Company Research Partnership
Are topics of hierarchy, change, influence, or diversity of concern to your organisation? I am always looking for opportunities to gather research data in exchange for feeding back actionable insights.
By Jen Overbeck in professional
Dissociative Status
This set of multiple studies has shown that people willingly confer status onto others who show defiance or exclusivity–qualities not normally considered part of the prestige pathway to status.
By Jen Overbeck in status studies research
Latent Lieutenant
In multiple studies, we’ve shown that a potential leader is seen as more powerful, more competent, and sometimes even more likable, based on the subtle nonverbal responses of other people around them.
By Jen Overbeck in power studies research
Status & Safety
We know (or think we know) that people want status because it carries privileges, opportunities, and rewards. But perhaps people want status for a more fundamental reason: because it helps keep us out of dangerous situations, thus making us safer.
By Jen Overbeck in status studies research
Status Instability
After the 2016 election, scholars debated whether support for Trump was driven more by economic disadvantage or racial anxiety.
By Jen Overbeck in status studies research
Student Supervision & Volunteer Opportunities
If you’re interested in research on power, status, hierarchy, and/or negotiations, I’m happy to discuss potential supervision. For PhD supervision, I can currently consider only a very compelling match.
By Jen Overbeck in student supervision
Theories of Power
In two papers with colleagues, I lay out two-factor theories that describe how some people want power for the pleasures it offers, and others because it enables progress toward important goals; and that analyze how power can lead to more agency or more aggression based on the power holder’s balance of resource control and capacity for volitional influence.