O conceito de poder social

• Autor(a) principal: Vilela, Ana Maria Jacó
• Data de Publicação: 1980
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional do FGV (FGV Repositório Digital)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10438/9508
• topic: Psicologia; Controle (Psicologia); Psicologia social

The concept of social power is used in the present work to question the Social Psychological approach, specially as regards the relevance of its findings for society and the interrelationship of its formulations to the prevailing social structure. The polysemy of this concept, which belongs to various different levels of knowledge and has an ample empirical referent, lead to differences in its definition. Its domain lies in the area of interpersonal, group (between and within group), organizational and class relationships, and its meaning overlaps with that of such terms as influence, control, authority and domination, which are often used inter changeably in a given text. The exercice of this social power characterizes the domination-subordination relationship. It is shown to be derived from the ownership of resources, which implies a resistance from the subordinates and their perceiving it as benefiting only the powerholder. Social Psychology, by trying to develop new ways to handle the conflicts which are a direct consequence from the use of power, contributes to the maintenance of social order. While Social Psychology uses an eminently psychological approach to the concept of social power, with little regard given to the social context, in political science and sociology the concept is studied from a macrostructural point of view, but also making use of psychological variables. The 'factors' of motivations and skills of the powerholder and values, perceptions and expectations of the 'subordinate' elements are present in the different approaches here considered, as much in the Psychology-derived ones as in the integrationist, the elitist, the pluralist and the exchange ones. The marxist approach is the only one that does not take these factors in consideration, analyzing power in the light of the class struggles.