Normative Acceptance of Power Abuse

While extensive research has shown how power corrupts those who wield it, less is known about its effects on the powerless. Victims of power abuse may either become dissatisfied with such norm violations by those in power or normalize such behavior, corrupting their own normative standards. In a laboratory experiment, we create communities where a single individual holds the power to punish others. We find that there is general agreement that it is socially inappropriate for those in power both to undercontribute and to enforce higher contributions from others. Yet we find that the powerless who are randomly exposed to this behavior believe it to be less socially inappropriate than those who are spared from it. These findings shed light on how power abuse can perpetuate itself and contribute to the persistence of corrupt institutions.