The Power Behavioral System
Shaver and Mikulincer (2021) propose that,
“… human beings are born with the rudiments of a [power behavioral system] that is designed to facilitate the acquisition and control of material and social resources (e.g. food, shelter, social status, followers, sexual partners.)”1
Shaver, Segev, and Mikulincer (2011) write:
“As with the other behavioral systems, failures of the power system can result in one or both of two nonoptimal (i.e. secondary) power strategies: hyperactivation or deactivation of the power system.
Hyperactived power-oriented behavior invovles a substantial increase in efforts to restore a sense of power despite adaverse circumstances and doubts and anxieties that arise when one experiences repeated and unpredictable failures. Hyeractivation is fueled by two motives: an excessive urge to gain power and an extreme fear of failure in the use of resource-holding power strategies. This combination results in chronic activation of the power system, even when theri is no imminent threat or actual damage to one’s own power; an indiscriminate urge to assert power over others; frequent anger and hostility towards others (who are viewed as potential rivals); and a proclivity to attack others following minimal or ambiguous signs of competition or provocation. In an extreme form, it can lead to flagrant vindictivenss and destrutive, even murderous, behavior. Hyperactivation is also characterized by a tendency to misinterpret social situations as threatening or hostile…
Deactivation, in contrast, invovles terminating or ‘shutting off’ the power system, thereby giving up on the possibiilty of using the system’s primary strategies to defend against threats and damages to one’s sense of power. Deactivation is evident in submissivenes, self-abasement, and the absence of resource holding ower stratgegies, even in the presence of clear-cut, explicit assuloat or provocation, to the point of experiencing substantail physical or psychological harm as a result. Deactivation also involves a tendicney to avoid situations that call for activatiaon of the power system and assertion of one’s rights and opinions: competitions, arguments, disptues, and interpersonal conflicts. It is important to note, however, that such deactivation does not necessarily invovle reduced sensitity to threats. In fact, powerless people are often highly sensitive to threat-related cues, prone to ruminate about threats, and experince negatgive emotions becuase of perceived threats and injustices… In other words, deactivation is not a peacful or calm state; it is characterized by a blend of worries, doubts, and defensese agianst the pain and frustration of ‘losig’ or doging a ‘fight’.”2
Mikulincer and Shaver (2021) propose that the power system may be associated with Panksepp’s RAGE neural circuitry:
Bowlby (1982), who focused mainly on infant-parent attachment when creating attachment theory, said relatively little about power or aggression. In our efforts to create a behavioral systems approach to human motivation, we perceived a need for an additional behavioral system related to power and dominance, perhaps motivated in part by what Panksepp (1998, 2011) called the RAGE neural circuitry.3
Assessment of Power System Individual Differences
The Power Behavioral System Scale (PBSS) is a self-report instrument used to assess “individual differences in hyper-activation and deactivation of the power system.”4
Examples of items in the PBSS:
Hyper-activated power system thought:
“In an argument or disagreement, my strong desire to fight back makes it difficult for me to consider other possibilities” Example of hypo-activated power system thought:
Hypo-activated power system thought:
“I’d rather not show people I’m angry even when my anger is justified.”
Mikulincer, M. & Shaver, P.R. (2021). “Attachment theory: a behavioral system approach for studying species-universal and individual-differences aspects of the social mind”. In T.K. Shackelford (Ed.) The Sage Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Sage Publications, pp. 17 - 18.
Shaver, P.R., Segev, M. & Mikulincer, M. (2011). A Behavioral Systems Perspective on Power and Aggression. In P.R. Shaver & M. Mikulincer, (Eds). Human Aggression and Violence: Causes, Manifestations, and Consequences, pp. 77 - 78.
Ibid 1, p. 17.
Ibid 2, p 79.