power of humanity essay

His tongue was framed to music, And his hand was armed with skill, His face was the mould of beauty, And his heart the throne of will.

There is not yet any inventory of a man's faculties, any more than a bible of his opinions. Who shall set a limit to the influence of a human being? There are men, who, by their sympathetic attractions, carry nations with them, and lead the activity of the human race. And if there be such a tie, that, wherever the mind of man goes, nature will accompany him, perhaps there are men whose magnetisms are of that force to draw material and elemental powers, and, where they appear, immense instrumentalities organize around them. Life is a search after power; and this is an element with which the world is so saturated, — there is no chink or crevice in which it is not lodged, — that no honest seeking goes unrewarded. A man should prize events and possessions as the ore in which this fine mineral is found; and he can well afford to let events and possessions, and the breath of the body go, if their value has been added to him in the shape of power. If he have secured the elixir, he can spare the wide gardens from which it was distilled. A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the end to which nature works, and the education of the will is the flowering and result of all this geology and astronomy.

All successful men have agreed in one thing, — they were causationists . They believed that things went not by luck, but by law; that there was not a weak or a cracked link in the chain that joins the first and last of things. A belief in causality, or strict connection between every trifle and the principle of being, and, in consequence, belief in compensation, or, that nothing is got for nothing, — characterizes all valuable minds, and must control every effort that is made by an industrious one. The most valiant men are the best believers in the tension of the laws. "All the great captains," said Bonaparte, "have performed vast achievements by conforming with the rules of the art, — by adjusting efforts to obstacles."

The key to the age may be this, or that, or the other, as the young orators describe; — the key to all ages is — Imbecility; imbecility in the vast majority of men, at all times, and, even in heroes, in all but certain eminent moments; victims of gravity, custom, and fear. This gives force to the strong, — that the multitude have no habit of self-reliance or original action.

We must reckon success a constitutional trait. Courage, — the old physicians taught, (and their meaning holds, if their physiology is a little mythical,) — courage, or the degree of life, is as the degree of circulation of the blood in the arteries. "During passion, anger, fury, trials of strength, wrestling, fighting, a large amount of blood is collected in the arteries, the maintenance of bodily strength requiring it, and but little is sent into the veins. This condition is constant with intrepid persons." Where the arteries hold their blood, is courage and adventure possible. Where they pour it unrestrained into the veins, the spirit is low and feeble. For performance of great mark, it needs extraordinary health. If Eric is in robust health, and has slept well, and is at the top of his condition, and thirty years old, at his departure from Greenland, he will steer west, and his ships will reach Newfoundland. But take out Eric, and put in a stronger and bolder man, — Biorn, or Thorfin, — and the ships will, with just as much ease, sail six hundred, one thousand, fifteen hundred miles further, and reach Labrador and New England. There is no chance in results. With adults, as with children, one class enter cordially into the game, and whirl with the whirling world; the others have cold hands, and remain bystanders; or are only dragged in by the humor and vivacity of those who can carry a dead weight. The first wealth is health. Sickness is poor-spirited, and cannot serve any one: it must husband its resources to live. But health or fulness answers its own ends, and has to spare, runs over, and inundates the neighborhoods and creeks of other men's necessities.

All power is of one kind, a sharing of the nature of the world. The mind that is parallel with the laws of nature will be in the current of events, and strong with their strength. One man is made of the same stuff of which events are made; is in sympathy with the course of things; can predict it. Whatever befalls, befalls him first; so that he is equal to whatever shall happen. A man who knows men, can talk well on politics, trade, law, war, religion. For, everywhere, men are led in the same manners .

The advantage of a strong pulse is not to be supplied by any labor, art, or concert. It is like the climate, which easily rears a crop, which no glass, or irrigation, or tillage, or manures, can elsewhere rival. It is like the opportunity of a city like New York, or Constantinople, which needs no diplomacy to force capital or genius or labor to it. They come of themselves, as the waters flow to it. So a broad, healthy, massive understanding seems to lie on the shore of unseen rivers, of unseen oceans, which are covered with barks, that, night and day, are drifted to this point. That is poured into its lap, which other men lie plotting for. It is in everybody's secret; anticipates everybody's discovery; and if it do not command every fact of the genius and the scholar, it is because it is large and sluggish, and does not think them worth the exertion which you do.

This affirmative force is in one, and is not in another, as one horse has the spring in him, and another in the whip. "On the neck of the young man," said Hafiz, "sparkles no gem so gracious as enterprise." Import into any stationary district, as into an old Dutch population in New York or Pennsylvania, or among the planters of Virginia, a colony of hardy Yankees, with seething brains, heads full of steam-hammer, pulley, crank, and toothed wheel, — and everything begins to shine with values. What enhancement to all the water and land in England, is the arrival of James Watt or Brunel! In every company, there is not only the active and passive sex, but, in both men and women, a deeper and more important sex of mind , namely, the inventive or creative class of both men and women, and the uninventive or accepting class. Each plus man represents his set, and, if he have the accidental advantage of personal ascendency, — which implies neither more nor less of talent, but merely the temperamental or taming eye of a soldier or a schoolmaster, (which one has, and one has not, as one has a black moustache and one a blond,) then quite easily and without envy or resistance, all his coadjutors and feeders will admit his right to absorb them. The merchant works by book-keeper and cashier; the lawyer's authorities are hunted up by clerks; the geologist reports the surveys of his subalterns; Commander Wilkes appropriates the results of all the naturalists attached to the Expedition; Thorwaldsen's statue is finished by stone-cutters; Dumas has journeymen; and Shakespeare was theatre-manager, and used the labor of many young men, as well as the playbooks.

There is always room for a man of force, and he makes room for many. Society is a troop of thinkers, and the best heads among them take the best places. A feeble man can see the farms that are fenced and tilled, the houses that are built. The strong man sees the possible houses and farms. His eye makes estates, as fast as the sun breeds clouds.

When a new boy comes into school, when a man travels, and encounters strangers every day, or, when into any old club a new comer is domesticated, that happens which befalls, when a strange ox is driven into a pen or pasture where cattle are kept; there is at once a trial of strength between the best pair of horns and the new comer, and it is settled thenceforth which is the leader. So now, there is a measuring of strength, very courteous, but decisive, and an acquiescence thenceforward when these two meet. Each reads his fate in the other's eyes. The weaker party finds, that none of his information or wit quite fits the occasion. He thought he knew this or that: he finds that he omitted to learn the end of it. Nothing that he knows will quite hit the mark, whilst all the rival's arrows are good, and well thrown. But if he knew all the facts in the encyclopaedia, it would not help him: for this is an affair of presence of mind, of attitude, of aplomb: the opponent has the sun and wind, and, in every cast, the choice of weapon and mark; and, when he himself is matched with some other antagonist, his own shafts fly well and hit. 'Tis a question of stomach and constitution. The second man is as good as the first, — perhaps better; but has not stoutness or stomach, as the first has, and so his wit seems over-fine or under-fine.

Health is good, — power, life, that resists disease, poison, and all enemies, and is conservative, as well as creative. Here is question, every spring, whether to graft with wax, or whether with clay; whether to whitewash or to potash, or to prune; but the one point is the thrifty tree. A good tree, that agrees with the soil, will grow in spite of blight , or bug, or pruning, or neglect, by night and by day, in all weathers and all treatments. Vivacity, leadership, must be had, and we are not allowed to be nice in choosing. We must fetch the pump with dirty water, if clean cannot be had. If we will make bread, we must have contagion, yeast, emptyings, or what not, to induce fermentation into the dough: as the torpid artist seeks inspiration at any cost, by virtue or by vice, by friend or by fiend, by prayer or by wine. And we have a certain instinct, that where is great amount of life, though gross and peccant, it has its own checks and purifications, and will be found at last in harmony with moral laws.

We watch in children with pathetic interest, the degree in which they possess recuperative force. When they are hurt by us, or by each other, or go to the bottom of the class, or miss the annual prizes, or are beaten in the game, — if they lose heart, and remember the mischance in their chamber at home, they have a serious check. But if they have the buoyancy and resistance that preoccupies them with new interest in the new moment, — the wounds cicatrize, and the fibre is the tougher for the hurt.

One comes to value this plus health, when he sees that all difficulties vanish before it. A timid man listening to the alarmists in Congress, and in the newspapers, and observing the profligacy of party, — sectional interests urged with a fury which shuts its eyes to consequences, with a mind made up to desperate extremities, ballot in one hand, and rifle in the other, — might easily believe that he and his country have seen their best days, and he hardens himself the best he can against the coming ruin. But, after this has been foretold with equal confidence fifty times, and government six per cents have not declined a quarter of a mill, he discovers that the enormous elements of strength which are here in play, make our politics unimportant. Personal power, freedom, and the resources of nature strain every faculty of every citizen. We prosper with such vigor, that, like thrifty trees, which grow in spite of ice, lice, mice, and borers, so we do not suffer from the profligate swarms that fatten on the national treasury. The huge animals nourish huge parasites, and the rancor of the disease attests the strength of the constitution. The same energy in the Greek Demos drew the remark, that the evils of popular government appear greater than they are; there is compensation for them in the spirit and energy it awakens. The rough and ready style which belongs to a people of sailors, foresters, farmers, and mechanics, has its advantages. Power educates the potentate. As long as our people quote English standards they dwarf their own proportions. A Western lawyer of eminence said to me he wished it were a penal offence to bring an English law-book into a court in this country, so pernicious had he found in his experience our deference to English precedent. The very word 'commerce' has only an English meaning, and is pinched to the cramp exigencies of English experience. The commerce of rivers, the commerce of railroads, and who knows but the commerce of air-balloons, must add an American extension to the pond-hole of admiralty. As long as our people quote English standards, they will miss the sovereignty of power; but let these rough riders, — legislators in shirt-sleeves, — Hoosier, Sucker, Wolverine, Badger, — or whatever hard head Arkansas, Oregon, or Utah sends, half orator, half assassin, to represent its wrath and cupidity at Washington, — let these drive as they may; and the disposition of territories and public lands, the necessity of balancing and keeping at bay the snarling majorities of German, Irish, and of native millions, will bestow promptness, address, and reason, at last, on our buffalo-hunter, and authority and majesty of manners . The instinct of the people is right. Men expect from good whigs, put into office by the respectability of the country, much less skill to deal with Mexico, Spain, Britain, or with our own malcontent members, than from some strong transgressor, like Jefferson, or Jackson, who first conquers his own government, and then uses the same genius to conquer the foreigner. The senators who dissented from Mr. Polk's Mexican war, were not those who knew better, but those who, from political position, could afford it; not Webster, but Benton and Calhoun.

This power, to be sure, is not clothed in satin. 'Tis the power of Lynch law, of soldiers and pirates; and it bullies the peaceable and loyal. But it brings its own antidote; and here is my point, — that all kinds of power usually emerge at the same time; good energy, and bad; power of mind, with physical health; the ecstasies of devotion, with the exasperations of debauchery. The same elements are always present, only sometimes these conspicuous, and sometimes those; what was yesterday foreground, being to-day background, — what was surface, playing now a not less effective part as basis. The longer the drought lasts, the more is the atmosphere surcharged with water. The faster the ball falls to the sun, the force to fly off is by so much augmented. And, in morals, wild liberty breeds iron conscience; natures with great impulses have great resources, and return from far. In politics, the sons of democrats will be whigs; whilst red republicanism, in the father, is a spasm of nature to engender an intolerable tyrant in the next age. On the other hand, conservatism, ever more timorous and narrow, disgusts the children, and drives them for a mouthful of fresh air into radicalism.

Those who have most of this coarse energy, — the 'bruisers,' who have run the gauntlet of caucus and tavern through the county or the state, have their own vices, but they have the good nature of strength and courage. Fierce and unscrupulous, they are usually frank and direct, and above falsehood. Our politics fall into bad hands, and churchmen and men of refinement, it seems agreed, are not fit persons to send to Congress. Politics is a deleterious profession, like some poisonous handicrafts. Men in power have no opinions, but may be had cheap for any opinion, for any purpose, — and if it be only a question between the most civil and the most forcible, I lean to the last. These Hoosiers and Suckers are really better than the snivelling opposition. Their wrath is at least of a bold and manly cast. They see, against the unanimous declarations of the people, how much crime the people will bear; they proceed from step to step, and they have calculated but too justly upon their Excellencies, the New England governors, and upon their Honors, the New England legislators. The messages of the governors and the resolutions of the legislatures, are a proverb for expressing a sham virtuous indignation, which, in the course of events, is sure to be belied.

In trade, also, this energy usually carries a trace of ferocity. Philanthropic and religious bodies do not commonly make their executive officers out of saints. The communities hitherto founded by Socialists, — the Jesuits, the Port-Royalists, the American communities at New Harmony, at Brook Farm, at Zoar, are only possible, by installing Judas as steward. The rest of the offices may be filled by good burgesses. The pious and charitable proprietor has a foreman not quite so pious and charitable. The most amiable of country gentlemen has a certain pleasure in the teeth of the bull-dog which guards his orchard. Of the Shaker society, it was formerly a sort of proverb in the country, that they always sent the devil to market. And in representations of the Deity, painting, poetry, and popular religion have ever drawn the wrath from Hell. It is an esoteric doctrine of society, that a little wickedness is good to make muscle; as if conscience were not good for hands and legs, as if poor decayed formalists of law and order cannot run like wild goats, wolves, and conies; that, as there is a use in medicine for poisons, so the world cannot move without rogues; that public spirit and the ready hand are as well found among the malignants. 'Tis not very rare, the coincidence of sharp private and political practice, with public spirit, and good neighborhood.

I knew a burly Boniface who for many years kept a public-house in one of our rural capitals. He was a knave whom the town could ill spare. He was a social, vascular creature, grasping and selfish. There was no crime which he did not or could not commit. But he made good friends of the selectmen, served them with his best chop, when they supped at his house, and also with his honor the Judge, he was very cordial, grasping his hand. He introduced all the fiends, male and female, into the town, and united in his person the functions of bully, incendiary, swindler, barkeeper, and burglar. He girdled the trees, and cut off the horses' tails of the temperance people, in the night. He led the 'rummies' and radicals in town-meeting with a speech. Meantime, he was civil, fat, and easy, in his house, and precisely the most public-spirited citizen. He was active in getting the roads repaired and planted with shade-trees; he subscribed for the fountains, the gas, and the telegraph; he introduced the new horse-rake, the new scraper, the baby-jumper, and what not, that Connecticut sends to the admiring citizens. He did this the easier, that the peddler stopped at his house, and paid his keeping, by setting up his new trap on the landlord's premises.

Whilst thus the energy for originating and executing work, deforms itself by excess, and so our axe chops off our own fingers, — this evil is not without remedy. All the elements whose aid man calls in, will sometimes become his masters, especially those of most subtle force. Shall he, then, renounce steam, fire, and electricity, or, shall he learn to deal with them? The rule for this whole class of agencies is, — all plus is good; only put it in the right place.

Men of this surcharge of arterial blood cannot live on nuts, herb-tea, and elegies; cannot read novels, and play whist; cannot satisfy all their wants at the Thursday Lecture, or the Boston Athenaeum. They pine for adventure, and must go to Pike's Peak; had rather die by the hatchet of a Pawnee, than sit all day and every day at a counting-room desk. They are made for war, for the sea, for mining, hunting, and clearing; for hair-breadth adventures, huge risks, and the joy of eventful living. Some men cannot endure an hour of calm at sea. I remember a poor Malay cook, on board a Liverpool packet, who, when the wind blew a gale, could not contain his joy; "Blow!" he cried, "me do tell you, blow!" Their friends and governors must see that some vent for their explosive complexion is provided. The roisters who are destined for infamy at home, if sent to Mexico, will "cover you with glory," and come back heroes and generals. There are Oregons, Californias, and Exploring Expeditions enough appertaining to America, to find them in files to gnaw, and in crocodiles to eat. The young English are fine animals, full of blood, and when they have no wars to breathe their riotous valors in, they seek for travels as dangerous as war, diving into Maelstroms; swimming Hellesponts; wading up the snowy Himmaleh; hunting lion, rhinoceros, elephant, in South Africa; gypsying with Borrow in Spain and Algiers; riding alligators in South America with Waterton; utilizing Bedouin, Sheik, and Pacha, with Layard; yachting among the icebergs of Lancaster Sound; peeping into craters on the equator; or running on the creases of Malays in Borneo.

The excess of virility has the same importance in general history, as in private and industrial life. Strong race or strong individual rests at last on natural forces, which are best in the savage, who, like the beasts around him, is still in reception of the milk from the teats of Nature. Cut off the connection between any of our works, and this aboriginal source, and the work is shallow. The people lean on this, and the mob is not quite so bad an argument as we sometimes say, for it has this good side. "March without the people," said a French deputy from the tribune, "and you march into night: their instincts are a finger-pointing of Providence, always turned toward real benefit. But when you espouse an Orleans party, or a Bourbon, or a Montalembert party, or any other but an organic party, though you mean well, you have a personality instead of a principle, which will inevitably drag you into a corner."

The best anecdotes of this force are to be had from savage life, in explorers, soldiers, and buccaneers. But who cares for fallings-out of assassins, and fights of bears, or grindings of icebergs? Physical force has no value, where there is nothing else. Snow in snow-banks, fire in volcanoes and solfataras is cheap. The luxury of ice is in tropical countries, and midsummer days. The luxury of fire is, to have a little on our hearth: and of electricity, not volleys of the charged cloud, but the manageable stream on the battery-wires. So of spirit, or energy; the rests or remains of it in the civil and moral man, are worth all the cannibals in the Pacific.

In history, the great moment is, when the savage is just ceasing to be a savage, with all his hairy Pelasgic strength directed on his opening sense of beauty: — and you have Pericles and Phidias, — not yet passed over into the Corinthian civility. Everything good in nature and the world is in that moment of transition, when the swarthy juices still flow plentifully from nature, but their astringency or acridity is got out by ethics and humanity.

The triumphs of peace have been in some proximity to war. Whilst the hand was still familiar with the sword-hilt, whilst the habits of the camp were still visible in the port and complexion of the gentleman, his intellectual power culminated: the compression and tension of these stern conditions is a training for the finest and softest arts, and can rarely be compensated in tranquil times, except by some analogous vigor drawn from occupations as hardy as war.

We say that success is constitutional; depends on a plus condition of mind and body, on power of work, on courage; that it is of main efficacy in carrying on the world, and, though rarely found in the right state for an article of commerce, but oftener in the supersaturate or excess, which makes it dangerous and destructive, yet it cannot be spared, and must be had in that form, and absorbents provided to take off its edge.

The affirmative class monopolize the homage of mankind. They originate and execute all the great feats. What a force was coiled up in the skull of Napoleon! Of the sixty thousand men making his army at Eylau, it seems some thirty thousand were thieves and burglars. The men whom, in peaceful communities, we hold if we can, with iron at their legs, in prisons, under the muskets of sentinels, this man dealt with, hand to hand, dragged them to their duty, and won his victories by their bayonets.

This aboriginal might gives a surprising pleasure when it appears under conditions of supreme refinement, as in the proficients in high art. When Michel Angelo was forced to paint the Sistine Chapel in fresco, of which art he knew nothing, he went down into the Pope's gardens behind the Vatican, and with a shovel dug out ochres, red and yellow, mixed them with glue and water with his own hands, and having, after many trials, at last suited himself, climbed his ladders, and painted away, week after week, month after month, the sibyls and prophets. He surpassed his successors in rough vigor, as much as in purity of intellect and refinement. He was not crushed by his one picture left unfinished at last. Michel was wont to draw his figures first in skeleton, then to clothe them with flesh, and lastly to drape them. "Ah!" said a brave painter to me, thinking on these things, "if a man has failed, you will find he has dreamed instead of working. There is no way to success in our art, but to take off your coat, grind paint, and work like a digger on the railroad, all day and every day."

Success goes thus invariably with a certain plus or positive power: an ounce of power must balance an ounce of weight. And, though a man cannot return into his mother's womb, and be born with new amounts of vivacity, yet there are two economies, which are the best succedanea which the case admits. The first is, the stopping off decisively our miscellaneous activity, and concentrating our force on one or a few points; as the gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs, instead of suffering it to spindle into a sheaf of twigs.

"Enlarge not thy destiny," said the oracle: "endeavor not to do more than is given thee in charge." The one prudence in life is concentration; the one evil is dissipation: and it makes no difference whether our dissipations are coarse or fine; property and its cares, friends, and a social habit, or politics, or music, or feasting. Everything is good which takes away one plaything and delusion more, and drives us home to add one stroke of faithful work. Friends, books, pictures, lower duties, talents, flatteries, hopes, — all are distractions which cause oscillations in our giddy balloon, and make a good poise and a straight course impossible. You must elect your work; you shall take what your brain can, and drop all the rest. Only so, can that amount of vital force accumulate, which can make the step from knowing to doing. No matter how much faculty of idle seeing a man has, the step from knowing to doing is rarely taken. 'Tis a step out of a chalk circle of imbecility into fruitfulness. Many an artist lacking this, lacks all: he sees the masculine Angelo or Cellini with despair. He, too, is up to Nature and the First Cause in his thought. But the spasm to collect and swing his whole being into one act, he has not. The poet Campbell said, that "a man accustomed to work was equal to any achievement he resolved on, and, that, for himself, necessity not inspiration was the prompter of his muse."

Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short, in all management of human affairs. One of the high anecdotes of the world is the reply of Newton to the inquiry, "how he had been able to achieve his discoveries?" — "By always intending my mind." Or if you will have a text from politics, take this from Plutarch: "There was, in the whole city, but one street in which Pericles was ever seen, the street which led to the market-place and the council house. He declined all invitations to banquets, and all gay assemblies and company. During the whole period of his administration, he never dined at the table of a friend." Or if we seek an example from trade, — "I hope," said a good man to Rothyschild, "your children are not too fond of money and business: I am sure you would not wish that." — "I am sure I should wish that: I wish them to give mind, soul, heart, and body to business, — that is the way to be happy. It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution, to make a great fortune, and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it. If I were to listen to all the projects proposed to me, I should ruin myself very soon. Stick to one business, young man. Stick to your brewery, (he said this to young Buxton,) and you will be the great brewer of London. Be brewer, and banker, and merchant, and manufacturer, and you will soon be in the Gazette."

Many men are knowing, many are apprehensive and tenacious, but they do not rush to a decision. But in our flowing affairs a decision must be made, — the best, if you can; but any is better than none. There are twenty ways of going to a point, and one is the shortest; but set out at once on one. A man who has that presence of mind which can bring to him on the instant all he knows, is worth for action a dozen men who know as much, but can only bring it to light slowly. The good Speaker in the House is not the man who knows the theory of parliamentary tactics, but the man who decides off-hand. The good judge is not he who does hair-splitting justice to every allegation, but who, aiming at substantial justice, rules something intelligible for the guidance of suitors. The good lawyer is not the man who has an eye to every side and angle of contingency, and qualifies all his qualifications, but who throws himself on your part so heartily, that he can get you out of a scrape. Dr. Johnson said, in one of his flowing sentences, "Miserable beyond all names of wretchedness is that unhappy pair, who are doomed to reduce beforehand to the principles of abstract reason all the details of each domestic day. There are cases where little can be said, and much must be done."

The second substitute for temperament is drill, the power of use and routine. The hack is a better roadster than the Arab barb. In chemistry, the galvanic stream, slow, but continuous, is equal in power to the electric spark, and is, in our arts, a better agent. So in human action, against the spasm of energy, we offset the continuity of drill. We spread the same amount of force over much time, instead of condensing it into a moment. 'Tis the same ounce of gold here in a ball, and there in a leaf. At West Point, Col. Buford, the chief engineer, pounded with a hammer on the trunnions of a cannon, until he broke them off. He fired a piece of ordnance some hundred times in swift succession, until it burst. Now which stroke broke the trunnion? Every stroke. Which blast burst the piece? Every blast. "Diligence passe sens," Henry VIII. was wont to say, or, great is drill. John Kemble said, that the worst provincial company of actors would go through a play better than the best amateur company. Basil Hall likes to show that the worst regular troops will beat the best volunteers. Practice is nine tenths. A course of mobs is good practice for orators. All the great speakers were bad speakers at first. Stumping it through England for seven years, made Cobden a consummate debater. Stumping it through New England for twice seven, trained Wendell Phillips. The way to learn German, is, to read the same dozen pages over and over a hundred times, till you know every word and particle in them, and can pronounce and repeat them by heart. No genius can recite a ballad at first reading, so well as mediocrity can at the fifteenth or twentieth readying. The rule for hospitality and Irish 'help,' is, to have the same dinner every day throughout the year. At last, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy learns to cook it to a nicety, the host learns to carve it, and the guests are well served. A humorous friend of mine thinks, that the reason why Nature is so perfect in her art, and gets up such inconceivably fine sunsets, is, that she has learned how, at last, by dint of doing the same thing so very often. Cannot one converse better on a topic on which he has experience, than on one which is new? Men whose opinion is valued on 'Change, are only such as have a special experience, and off that ground their opinion is not valuable. "More are made good by exercitation, than by nature," said Democritus. The friction in nature is so enormous that we cannot spare any power. It is not question to express our thought, to elect our way, but to overcome resistances of the medium and material in everything we do. Hence the use of drill, and the worthlessness of amateurs to cope with practitioners. Six hours every day at the piano, only to give facility of touch; six hours a day at painting, only to give command of the odious materials, oil, ochres, and brushes. The masters say, that they know a master in music, only by seeing the pose of the hands on the keys; — so difficult and vital an act is the command of the instrument. To have learned the use of the tools, by thousands of manipulations; to have learned the arts of reckoning, by endless adding and dividing, is the power of the mechanic and the clerk.

I remarked in England, in confirmation of a frequent experience at home, that, in literary circles, the men of trust and consideration, bookmakers, editors, university deans and professors, bishops, too, were by no means men of the largest literary talent, but usually of a low and ordinary intellectuality, with a sort of mercantile activity and working talent. Indifferent hacks and mediocrities tower, by pushing their forces to a lucrative point, or by working power, over multitudes of superior men, in Old as in New England.

I have not forgotten that there are sublime considerations which limit the value of talent and superficial success. We can easily overpraise the vulgar hero. There are sources on which we have not drawn. I know what I abstain from. I adjourn what I have to say on this topic to the chapters on Culture and Worship. But this force or spirit, being the means relied on by Nature for bringing the work of the day about, — as far as we attach importance to household life, and the prizes of the world, we must respect that. And I hold, that an economy may be applied to it; it is as much a subject of exact law and arithmetic as fluids and gases are; it may be husbanded, or wasted; every man is efficient only as he is a container or vessel of this force, and never was any signal act or achievement in history, but by this expenditure. This is not gold, but the gold-maker; not the fame, but the exploit.

If these forces and this husbandry are within reach of our will, and the laws of them can be read, we infer that all success, and all conceivable benefit for man, is also, first or last, within his reach, and has its own sublime economies by which it may be attained. The world is mathematical, and has no casualty, in all its vast and flowing curve. Success has no more eccentricity, than the gingham and muslin we weave in our mills. I know no more affecting lesson to our busy, plotting New England brains, than to go into one of the factories with which we have lined all the watercourses in the States. A man hardly knows how much he is a machine, until he begins to make telegraph, loom, press, and locomotive, in his own image. But in these, he is forced to leave out his follies and hindrances, so that when we go to the mill, the machine is more moral than we. Let a man dare go to a loom, and see if he be equal to it. Let machine confront machine, and see how they come out. The world-mill is more complex than the calico-mill, and the architect stooped less. In the gingham-mill, a broken thread or a shred spoils the web through a piece of a hundred yards, and is traced back to the girl that wove it, and lessens her wages. The stockholder, on being shown this, rubs his hands with delight. Are you so cunning, Mr. Profitloss, and do you expect to swindle your master and employer, in the web you weave? A day is a more magnificent cloth than any muslin, the mechanism that makes it is infinitely cunninger, and you shall not conceal the sleezy, fraudulent, rotten hours you have slipped into the piece, nor fear that any honest thread, or straighter steel, or more inflexible shaft, will not testify in the web.

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The Impact of Power on Humanity: Self-Dehumanization in Powerlessness

School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China

Shenghua Jin

Conceived and designed the experiments: WY. Performed the experiments: WY SH. Analyzed the data: WY SH YZ SJ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: WY YZ SJ QF. Wrote the paper: WY SH QF YZ. Revised the manuscript: WY SJ SH QF. Fee: SJ WY.

Associated Data

All relevant data are within the paper.

Power gives people the ability to control themselves and their environment, and this control is considered a fundamental human need. We investigated whether experiencing powerlessness induces the experience of self-dehumanization using three methods: priming, role-playing, and cueing. People in a position of low power viewed themselves (Experiments 1–3) as less human relative to people in a position of high power; furthermore, people with low power believed that they were viewed as less human by others as well (Experiments 2–3). In all of the experiments, human nature traits were most negatively affected by powerlessness in self-perception judgments, and uniquely human traits were most negatively affected by powerlessness in meta-perception judgments. Furthermore, the powerless believed they were viewed as less human not only by the powerful people but also the outside observers of the power dynamic. Self-dehumanization also appears to be a consequence of powerlessness rather than an incidental result of a change in mood or a negative self-view. Our findings are an important extension of previous work on the adverse effects of powerlessness and dehumanization.

Introduction

Power allows people to control outcomes with respect to both the environment and the self [ 1 – 5 ]. This control is considered to be a fundamental human need [ 6 , 7 ]; therefore, it follows that powerlessness will disrupt an individual’s sense of humanity, which coincides with the fact that many civilizations have equated power deprivation with humbleness, lowliness, and fewer expressed human traits [ 8 ]. We based the current study on this notion in order to demonstrate that perceived powerlessness induces self-dehumanization.

Self-dehumanization

The central feature of dehumanization is a failure to attribute feelings or qualities of mind to humans [ 9 – 13 ]. Human nature (HN) traits are attributes that are biologically based, innate, shared, fundamental, or essential features of humanity. They are associated with cognitive flexibility, emotional reactivity, agency, openness, and individuality [ 10 ]. Attributing a lack of HN traits to people is akin to explicitly or implicitly perceiving or acting toward those people as though they lack the capacity to feel (i.e., as if they were automatons). In contrast, uniquely human (UH) traits are acquired through education and interaction with one’s culture, are distinctive to the human species, and are associated with refinement, responsibility, maturity, enlightened morality, civility [ 10 ], and higher cognition [ 13 ]. Attributing a lack of UH traits to people is akin to explicitly or implicitly perceiving or acting toward those people as though they lack the capacity to think (i.e., as if they were non-human animals). In other words, this framework implies that people can be dehumanized in two ways: mechanistically (via a lack of HN traits) or animalistically (via a lack of UH traits). To date, self-dehumanization, in addition to being rarely examined, has been studied only in terms of behaviors related to the immoral treatment of the self or others [ 14 – 16 ]. The present study aimed to extend previous findings by assessing ordinary interpersonal situations in which power and self-perceived humanity are involved.

People can see themselves in two ways: they can adopt a first-person perspective, wherein they see themselves through their own eyes (self-perception), or they can adopt a third-person perspective, wherein they see themselves through others’ eyes (meta-perception) [ 17 ]. Theoretically, people experience self-dehumanization not only when they perceive themselves as less human but also when they believe that others attribute less human traits to them. Surprisingly, researchers have studied self-dehumanization only from a self-perception perspective [ 15 – 16 ]; there is little direct evidence to support a meta-perception perspective, except for one study that investigated meta-perception in social ostracism [ 14 ]. As such, we investigated self-dehumanization of powerless individuals from both perspectives.

Powerlessness and self-dehumanization

Recent work has begun to establish more links between powerlessness and dehumanization—specifically, the ways in which powerlessness catalyzes the process of dehumanization among powerless individuals [ 18 – 20 ]. However, it is unclear whether perceived powerlessness has consequences for how we see ourselves, particularly with respect to self-dehumanization. Thus, the current study examined the relationship between feelings of powerlessness and self-dehumanization. Previous research suggests that the two types of human traits (HN and UH) contribute to self-perception and meta-perception within the context of interpersonal maltreatment [ 14 , 21 ]. Accordingly, we argue that both mechanistic and animalistic dehumanization are related to powerlessness.

Self-perception directs a person’s attention inward, focusing on the self and comparing it with the most salient self-relevant standard or goal [ 22 ]. HN traits comprise characteristics that are typically or essentially human—that is, traits that represent the “core” of a human [ 10 ] and occur in the context of interactions in which people “disregard the existence of other people as social partners” [ 23 ]. If mechanistic dehumanization represents such a lack of relatedness perception, it would understandably be apparent in self-perception. This is also consistent with the notion that when people feel they are treated like objects (a denial of HN) they report a range of states of cognitive deconstruction (e.g., emotional numbing) [ 14 ]. Therefore, we expect that when people are in powerless positions, they attribute fewer HN traits to themselves during self-perception. That is, such individuals perceive themselves as mechanical, rather than as complete human beings. This notion has been implied in research examining the experiential impact of powerlessness on self-perception, particularly to the notion of the “constrain state,” which is characterized by a lack of freedom and one’s behavior being dictated by others or the environment as opposed to one’s own will [ 24 , 25 ], as well as impaired cognitive flexibility and selectivity [ 26 , 27 ]. As agency, freedom, and cognitive flexibility are all qualities commonly thought to be central to human nature [ 10 , 13 ], powerlessness may cause people to feel as if they possess fewer HN traits.

In contrast, meta-perception focuses a person’s attention on the external environment (e.g., tasks, other people, scenery), wherein that person compares the self with externalized standards [ 22 ]. UH traits might be perceived as nonessential, in that they reflect socialization and culture and are restricted by the context [ 10 ]. If animalistic dehumanization represents perceiving a lack of such traits in interpersonal contexts, it would understandably be apparent in meta-perception. This is consistent with the notion that the experience of being treated like an animal (lacking UH traits) is strongly related to self-consciousness and emotions such as shame [ 20 ], which are thought to signify a loss of social status or social value and feelings of inferiority [ 28 , 29 ]. Therefore, we expect that when people are powerless, they attribute fewer UH traits to themselves during meta-perception. That is, such individuals consider themselves animalistic entities, rather than complete human beings, in others’ eyes. This is has been implied by research suggesting that powerless individuals have few or no opportunities to express their abilities and intelligence [ 30 , 31 ] and have less of an ability to focus on primary goals [ 32 ]; as such, they tend to be considered less kind and less moral by others [ 33 ]. These effects suggest that powerless individuals are considered to lack maturity, rationality, responsibility, self-control, and trustworthiness, which are generally considered predominant UH traits [ 10 , 13 ]; thus, powerless individuals tend to be perceived as having fewer UH traits, rendering them more animalistic.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships of experiencing powerlessness with perceiving oneself as less human and being viewed as such by others (i.e., the powerful and observers outside the power dynamic), while controlling for the mood and negative self-perceptions that often accompany powerlessness. We also predicted that the two types of dehumanization might have different effects on self-perception and meta-perception, according to the definitions of the two types of dehumanization and their relationships with power. Specifically, we predicted that powerlessness leads people to attribute fewer HN traits in self-perception and fewer UH traits in meta-perception.

We conducted three experiments to test the following hypotheses: (1) Powerless individuals will tend to show a reduction in self-perceived (self-perception and meta-perception) humanity; (2) experiencing low power will decrease HN traits in self-perception and UH traits in meta-perception; and (3) the effects of self-dehumanization due to powerlessness would be independent of a negative self-view and mood changes.

In Experiment 1, we used a priming manipulation directly related to power and assessed whether it would induce self-dehumanization in powerless individuals. In Experiment 2, we used role-playing manipulations to extend our findings and assess whether individuals in positions of low power are more likely to engage in self-dehumanization. In Experiment 3, we deployed a subtler method to conceptually replicate and extend the findings of Experiment 2, testing whether environmental cues can activate the concept of power and further investigating the self-dehumanizing effect of low power. Our prediction for all experiments was that individuals with low power would consider themselves less human and would believe themselves to be viewed as such by others, independent of any accompanying negative self-views and mood changes. Specially, we also predicted that low power would affect HN traits in self-perception and UH traits in meta-perception, in accordance with the rationale provided in the preceding section.

Experiment 1

Experiment 1 examined the impact of power on self-perception of humanization. We made predictions regarding HN traits.

Ethics Statement

The experiment was conducted after obtaining Institutional Review Board approval from the School of Psychology at Beijing Normal University. All participants gave informed written consent before testing began.

Participants

One hundred thirteen adult students (68 female) from Beijing Normal University received course credits in return for their participation in this experiment. Their ages ranged from 21 to 37 years ( M = 25.89, SD = 1.89).

Power manipulation . Participants were randomly assigned to either the high- or the low-power group and instructed to provide a vivid written report of a past event in which they had exercised power over another individual or someone else had exercised power over them, in accordance with the procedure used by Galinsky and colleagues [ 4 ]. They were instructed to write for 15–20 minutes, vividly imagine the scenes, and include as many details as possible. All participants used a 20-line, A4-size sheet of paper to write about their experiences. They were asked to fill at least three-quarters of the page. There were no differences between the conditions with respect to the amount of information recalled (lines completed: M = 17.3), t (102) < 0.5, p > .05.

Dehumanization traits . Following power priming, participants rated themselves with regard to 12 items, adapted from a study conducted by Haslam [ 10 ], to measure HN and UH traits as follows: for HN traits, “I felt like I had interpersonal warmth”; “I felt that I was emotional, like I was responsive and warm”; “I felt like I was open minded, like I could think clearly about things”; “I felt like I was an object, not a human” [reversed]; “I felt like I was mechanical and cold, like a robot” [reversed]; “I felt superficial, like I had no depth” [reversed]; and for UH traits, “I felt like I was refined and cultured”; “I felt like I was an adult, not a child”; “I felt like I was rational and logical, like I was intelligent”; “I felt like I lacked self-restraint, like an animal” [reversed]; “I felt like I was unsophisticated” [reversed]. Participants responded using a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much so). HN and UH indices were constructed by reverse scoring the reversed items, and then adding these scores to the scores of the other items. Lower scores indicated greater feelings of dehumanization—as such, we expected participants in the low-power condition to have lower scores than those in the high-power group.

Affect . Next, participants used a 7-point scale (1 = very negative to 7 = very positive) to rate how they felt at that particular moment. Previous research has shown that a lack of power may induce negative affect [ 4 ], which may accompany the process of dehumanization.

Participants completed the task in a classroom setting; the process lasted approximately 30 minutes. Participants were then probed as to their understanding of the purpose of the study, debriefed, and thanked individually.

Nine participants were excluded. Two were unwilling to recall relevant experiences, two did not complete the writing task adequately, two had just participated in a similar priming procedure, and three expressed suspicion regarding the purpose of the experiment. Our analysis was conducted using the data from the remaining 104 participants.

Manipulation check

Consistent with previous research [ 34 ], two independent judges (blind to the experimental conditions) rated the essays using a 7-point scale (1 = no power at all, 7 = rich in power) to determine how much power participants appeared to have exercised in their descriptions in the power-priming essays (r = .88). We used the mean score for coders’ ratings. As expected, the judges rated participants in the high-power condition as significantly more powerful ( M = 5.94, SD = 0.57) than did those in the low-power condition ( M = 2.01, SD = 0.74), t (102) = 30.47, p < .001.

High-power participants ( M = 5.10, SD = 1.05) rated affect more positively than did those who were in the low-power condition ( M = 3.69, SD = 1.15), t (102) = 6.50, p < .001.

Dehumanization traits

The measures of sense of humanity were reliable (HN: Cronbach’s α = .72; UH: Cronbach’s α = .68). The self-perception scores for the two types of human trait were averaged separately across participants and then subjected to a repeated-measures ANCOVA. Power (high vs. low) was the between-subjects factor and was considered a test of the study’s main hypothesis (i.e., lower attribution of human traits in the low-power condition), while trait (HN vs. UH) was the within-subjects factor. Affect ratings and gender were assigned as covariates in the repeated-measures ANCOVA, as previous research has shown that gender may affect sense of power [ 35 ].

In line with our predictions, the experimental manipulation of power significantly affected participants’ self-dehumanization, F (1, 100) = 12.19, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .11. Specifically, without considering the specific types of human traits, participants in the low-power condition rated themselves as having significantly fewer human traits ( M = 5.29, SD = 0.60) than did those in the high-power condition ( M = 5.74, SD = 0.48). Trait interacted with power, F (1, 100) = 8.61, p = .004, ƞ 2 = .08. Simple effects analysis showed that participants in the low-power condition rated themselves as having fewer HN traits than did those in the high-power condition ( M high-power = 6.11; M low-power = 5.52; t (100) = 18.11, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .15); however, UH traits were similar across power conditions ( M high-power = 5.31; M low-power = 5.11; t (100) = 2.64, p = .107), as shown in Fig 1 .

The first experiment provided initial evidence for a link between powerlessness and reduced self-perceived humanity. Support was also found for the importance of HN traits, with lower power negatively affecting the self-perceived sense of shared humanity (HN traits). Notably, we did not find any effect of power on self-perceived UH traits. Moreover, the first experiment showed that the self-dehumanizing effect of powerlessness was independent of the negative affect that may accompany dehumanization. Experiment 1 did, however, leave several questions unanswered.

First, by relying solely on recall manipulation, it was impossible to control for other factors that were irrelevant to the study but that may have led to the participants’ reduced self-perceived humanity. Second, all of the HN trait items were positive. As such, rather than specifically reflecting a loss of a sense of humanity, our findings may be explained by unrelated negative self-perceptions. A further question that arose was about how participants believed they were viewed by powerful individuals. The literature on meta-perception suggests that people have accurate knowledge of how others perceive them [ 17 ]. That is, although people are not particularly adept at knowing what particular individuals think of them, they do have an accurate sense of how most individuals perceive them [ 36 ].

Experiment 2

In the second experiment, we sought to replicate and solidify the results found in Experiment 1 by using role-play to prime power along with different measures of human traits to eliminate the influences of negative self-view as well as mood. We predicted that powerless would lead participants to not only feel less human, but also believe that powerful individuals would view them as such. Specifically, we predicted that powerlessness leads people to attribute fewer HN traits in self-perception and fewer UH traits in meta-perception.

Eighty-eight adults (48 female) received 15 RMB in return for their participation in this experiment. Their ages ranged from 22 to 35 years ( M = 28.57, SD = 1.83).

Power manipulation . The role-based procedure for manipulating power was adapted from Galinsky and colleagues [ 4 ] and Anderson and Berdahl [ 37 ]. Participants arrived at the room in pairs and were randomly assigned to either the high-power condition or the low-power condition in same-sex dyads. They were initially required to complete 20 items from the Big Five Inventory [ 38 ]. Thereafter, the experimenter informed the participants that they would be required to perform a coordination task wherein they would build a Tanagram from a set of Legos; in this coordination task, one person would take the role of the leader and the other the role of the subordinate. Participants were informed that the roles would be assigned based on their responses to the personality questionnaire, and the experimenter subsequently left the room to score the questionnaires. In fact, the roles of leader and subordinate were randomly assigned. Approximately 5 minutes later, the experimenter returned, announced the results, and described the roles.

Leaders were informed that they could exert complete control over the work, structure and direct the whole process, do whatever they wished, and instruct their subordinates to do what the leaders desired. In addition, leaders were required to evaluate the subordinates at the end of the session via a questionnaire that the subordinates were forbidden from looking at. Leaders determined the evaluation standards and their ultimate evaluation determined how the participants’ fees (RMB 30) were divided between the leader and subordinate in each dyad. Leaders were not evaluated by anyone. In contrast, subordinates were informed that their leaders would decide how to structure and direct the whole process and that they should carry out the task as instructed by the leaders, regardless of their own will. In addition, the subordinates understood that their leaders determined the standards for evaluating the subordinates’ performance at the end of the session. The subordinates could not see the leaders’ evaluations, which would determine how the participants’ fees (RMB 30) would be divided between the leader and subordinate in each dyad. Subordinates would not have an opportunity to evaluate their leaders.

The experimenter then told participants that they needed to leave the room to prepare for building the Tanagram. Then the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that was described as a pretest for the study. In fact, the questionnaire was the measurement of humanity.

Dehumanization traits . Participants rated themselves using 20 items [ 14 ] rated on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all to 7 = to a great extent), which included five positive HN traits (active, curious, friendly, helpful, and fun-loving), five negative HN traits (impatient, impulsive, jealous, nervous, and shy), five positive UH traits (broadminded, conscientious, humble, polite, and thorough), and five negative UH traits (disorganized, hard-hearted, ignorant, rude, and stingy). The HN and UH traits have each been shown to epitomize one of the two senses of humanity [ 11 ] and both have two positive and two negative valence traits.

Participants also rated meta-perception for the same items, after the item stems were changed to “I felt like the leader participant saw me…(for the powerless participants)” or “I felt like the subordinate participant saw me…(for the powerful participants)”. In particular, they were asked to think about their “experience of power” and to answer each question accordingly.

Affect . Next, participants used a 7-point scale (1 = very negative to 7 = very positive) to rate how they felt at that particular moment.

Manipulation check . At the end of the procedure, all participants completed two manipulation checks according to the procedure used by Anderson and Berdahl [ 37 ]: “Who had more control over the way in which you completed the task?” and “Who was more dominant during your interaction?”. They rated each item from 1 (the opponent) to 7 (me).

Participants completed the task, which took approximately 30 minutes in a separate room. They were then probed to ascertain whether they had any suspicion of the hypothesis and were debriefed individually.

Eight participants were excluded. Two (male) pairs knew each other before the experiment, two (male) participants expressed some suspicion regarding the purpose of the experiment, and two (male) participants did not complete the self-dehumanization measures properly. The analyses were conducted using the data from the remaining 80 participants.

The two items for the manipulations check were found to be reliable (Cronbach’s α = .83). We used the average score of these items to form an overall sense of power score. As expected, participants in the high-power role described themselves as more powerful ( M = 5.13, SD = 0.99) than did those in the low-power role ( M = 3.07, SD = 0.76), t (78) = 10.35, p < .001.

No effects of the high-power or low-power condition on overall affect scores were revealed, ps > .05, so these data will not be included in the following analysis.

The measures of sense of humanity had acceptable reliability (self-perception, HN: Cronbach’s α = .71, HU: Cronbach’s α = .60; meta-perception, HN: Cronbach’s α = .73, HU: Cronbach’s α = .67). The self-perception and meta-perception scores for the two types of human traits were averaged separately across participants and subjected to repeated-measures ANCOVAs. As mentioned above, power (high vs. low) was the between-subjects factor and was considered to represent a test of the study’s main hypothesis, while valence (positive vs. negative) and trait (HN vs. UH) were the within-subjects factors. We also entered participant gender as a covariate in the repeated-measures ANCOVA, as in Experiment 1.

For the ratings of self-perceptions, a significant 2 (power: high vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (trait: HN vs. UH) interaction effect was not found, F (1, 77) = 2.98, p = .088. Then, we conducted separate 2 (power: high vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) repeated-measures ANCOVAs for each type of human trait. For HN traits, a main effect of valence was found, F (1, 77) = 24.07, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .24, revealing that participants rated themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.47, SD = 0.76) than negative ( M = 1.61, SD = 0.63) HN traits. HN traits also showed a main effect of power, F (1, 77) = 6.03, p = .016, ƞ 2 = .07, demonstrating that participants who lacked power viewed themselves as having fewer HN traits ( M = 1.91, SD = 0.74) than did those who had power ( M = 2.17, SD = 0.74), as shown in Fig 2 . This supports our hypothesis concerning the importance of perceived power in the expression of HN traits. Valence interacted with power, F (1, 77) = 9.38, p = .003, ƞ 2 = .11, and the simple effects analysis showed that people who lacked power rated themselves as having fewer positive HN traits while simultaneously ascribing equal numbers of negative HN traits to themselves compared to those who had power (positive: t (77) = 12.59, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .14; negative: t (77) = .07, p = .795).

For the UH dimension, there was a robust main effect of valence, F (1, 77) = 56.38, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .42, with participants rating themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.55, SD = .55) than negative ( M = 1.19, SD = .50) UH traits. However, mean UH ratings did not differ across power conditions, F (1, 77) = 2.92, p = .092, demonstrating that participants who lacked power had equal numbers of UH traits ( M = 1.81, SD = .45) as those who had power ( M = 1.92, SD = .45), as shown in Fig 2 . Valence did not interact with power, F (1, 77) = 2.97, p = .089.

For the ratings of meta-perceptions, a significant 2 (power: high vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (trait: HN vs. UH) interaction effect was not found, F (1, 77) = .25, p = .619. Then, separate 2 (power: high vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) repeated-measures ANCOVAs for each type of human trait were conducted. For HN traits, a main effect of valence was found, F (1, 77) = 11.07, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .13, indicating that participants generally rated themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.29, SD = 0.74) than negative ( M = 1.56, SD = 0.71) HN traits. There was no main effect of power, F (1, 77) = 0.70, p = .404, demonstrating that participants who lacked power had equal levels of HN traits ( M = 1.88, SD = 0.72) as those who had power ( M = 1.97, SD = 0.72), as shown in Fig 3 . Furthermore, there was an interaction between valence and power, F (1, 77) = 11.76, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .13. Simple effects analysis showed that compared to those with power, participants who lacked power believed that others viewed them as having fewer positive HN traits but equal numbers of negative HN traits (positive: F (1,77) = 8.97, p = .004, ƞ 2 = .10; negative: F (1,77) = 3.61, p = .061).

For UH traits, there was a main effect of valence, F (1, 77) = 12.62, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .14, with participants rating themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.21, SD = 0.70) than negative ( M = 1.48, SD = 0.56) UH traits. There was also an effect of power, F (1, 77) = 6.05, p = .016, ƞ 2 = .07, demonstrating that participants who lacked power viewed themselves as having fewer UH traits ( M = 1.73, SD = 0.64) than did those who had power ( M = 1.95, SD = 0.64), as shown in Fig 3 . This supports our hypothesis concerning the importance of power in the self-perceived UH traits. Furthermore, valence interacted with power, F (1, 77) = 18.77, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .20, and simple effects analysis showed that compared to participants who had power, participants who lacked power believed that others viewed them as having fewer positive UH traits but equal numbers of negative UH traits (positive: F (1,77) = 19.12, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .20; negative: F (1,77) = 2.16, p = .15).

Experiment 2 replicated the basic effect found in Experiment 1 using a different methodology and supported the effect of power on HN traits in self-perception; specifically, the power × valence interaction in this study replicated the finding in Experiment 1 that powerlessness diminishes positive human traits. However, more importantly, the results highlighted the central role of UH traits in meta-perception. In particular, subordinate participants were led to believe that the leader participants who exerted power over them saw them as lacking in UH traits. This finding may reflect links between the HN traits and self-perception and between the UH traits and meta-perception. Moreover, Experiment 2 shows that while powerlessness does not necessarily cause people to see themselves more negatively, it does affect self-perceived humanity.

However, Experiment 2 also left some questions unanswered. First, participants’ self-perceived human qualities may have been affected by specific stereotypes regarding the leader and subordinate roles rather than being caused by an actual sense of power. Second, as a perceived powerlessness leads to dehumanization in meta-perception, the possible effect of observers is of interest. If the effect of powerlessness were as aversive as it was observed to be, it may be relevant not only to the meta-perception of those involved in the power dynamic but also to the meta-perceptions of observers not involved in a power dynamic. Third, in the previous two experiments, we had no ratings from a control condition with which to compare our baseline ratings; therefore, it is not clear whose perception was affected by the power manipulation: the powerful, the powerless, or both. Therefore, Experiment 3 investigates whether individuals’ self-perceived humanity is negatively affected by powerlessness, or positively affected by powerfulness.

Experiment 3

In this experiment, we aimed to conceptually replicate and extend our findings from Experiments l and 2 by adapting a more implicit means of priming the concept of power [ 24 ] and extending the self-dehumanization effect found in meta-perception to observers. In addition, we added a control group and made no predictions regarding whether there would be differences between the control, high-power, and low-power conditions.

Two hundred fifty adults (96 male) received 15 RMB in return for their participation in this experiment. Their ages ranged from 21 to 53 years ( M = 30.43, SD = 2.88).

Power manipulation . We conducted Experiment 3 in an office environment using a procedure adapted from Chen and colleagues [ 39 ] and Carney, Cuddy, and Yap [ 40 ]. Participants in the experimental condition entered the office in pairs and were randomly assigned to one of the two power conditions (high and low). They were then asked to either sit in a boss’s chair behind a desk and display an open posture, or sit in a guest’s chair in front of the desk and display a constrained posture. The control participants entered another room in pairs and both sat in normal chairs of the same style. We also ensured that participants were of the same sex in every interaction, and that they did not talk to each other during the course of the experiment.

Dehumanization traits . After the power manipulation, participants were instructed to complete an ostensibly unrelated task, rating themselves and the meta-perceptions of the observers on the same measures of humanity used in Experiment 2, while seated in the boss’s chair (high-power condition), the guest chair (low-power condition), or the non-descript chairs (control condition). For the meta-perception ratings, the item stem was as follows: “I felt like the observers considered me as....”

Affect . Next, participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule [ 41 ] using a 5-point scale (1 = not at all to 5 = very much so) to rate how each adjective described how they felt at that particular moment. The scores of items were averaged to form the scale scores.

Manipulation check . At the end of the procedure, participants completed a questionnaire and provided ratings for their sense of power using two items adapted from Kraus and colleagues [ 42 ], including “Right now, I feel I have a great deal of power” and “Right now, I feel like my wishes don’t carry much weight” [reversed]. Both items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree.

The process lasted approximately 20 minutes. Participants were then probed as to the purpose of the study, debriefed, and thanked individually.

Ten participants were excluded. Six did not complete the questionnaire, and two expressed some suspicion regarding the purpose of the experiment. In order to maintain same-sex dyads, we eliminated two other participants. The analyses were conducted using the data from the remaining 240 participants.

Answers to the manipulation check items were reliable (Cronbach’s α = .88). They were averaged to form an overall sense of power score, and as expected, participants in the different conditions exhibited different levels of power, F (2, 239) = 69.97, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .24. Specifically, participants more often described themselves as being powerful in the high-power condition ( M = 5.22, SD = 1.04) relative to participants in the control condition ( M = 4.04, SD = 0.92), t (158) = 6.98, p < .001. Similarly, participants described themselves as more powerless in the low-power condition relative to participants in the control condition ( M = 3.52, SD = 1.21), t (158) = 5.08, p < .001.

The ratings for the affect items did not differ between the conditions, F s < 1; therefore, they will not be discussed further.

The measures of human traits were found to be reliable (self-perception, HN: Cronbach’s α = .73, UH: Cronbach’s α = .70; meta-perception of observers, HN: Cronbach’s α = .75, UH: Cronbach’s α = .70). As in Experiment 2, ANCOVAs were used to explore ratings for self-perception and meta-perception of observers, with power condition (high vs. control vs. low) as the between-subjects factor, while valence (positive vs. negative) and trait (HN vs. UH) as within-subjects factors. We also entered participants’ gender as covariates, as in Experiments 1 and 2.

Regarding self-perception, a significant 3 (power: high vs. control vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (trait: HN vs. UH) interaction effect was not found, F (1, 77) = 1.66, p = .193. Then, separate 2 (power: high vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) repeated-measures ANCOVAs for each type of human trait was conducted. For HN traits, a main effect of valence was found, F (1, 236) = 61.04, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .21, indicating that participants rated themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.65, SD = 0.24) than negative ( M = 1.63, SD = 0.33) HN traits. A main effect of power was also found, F (2, 236) = 5.82, p = .003, ƞ 2 = .05, indicating that—independent of valence—participants’ ratings of HN traits differed across power conditions. Specifically, participants in the low-power condition ( M = 2.04) viewed themselves as having fewer HN traits than did participants in the control ( M = 2.19, p = .003) and high-power ( M = 2.19, p = .004) conditions. The control and high-power conditions did not differ from each other, p = .989, as shown in Fig 4 . Once again, valence interacted with power, F (2, 236) = 27.55, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .19. Simple effects analysis showed that for positive HN traits, the differences among the power conditions were significant, F (2, 236) = 42.97, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .27. Participants in the low-power condition ( M = 2.35) viewed themselves as having fewer positive HN traits than did participants in the control ( M = 2.71, p < .001) and high-power ( M = 2.89, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions also significantly differed from each other, p = .002. For negative HN traits, the differences among the power conditions were significant, F (2, 236) = 4.62, p = .011, ƞ 2 = .04. Participants in the high-power condition ( M = 1.50) viewed themselves as having fewer negative HN traits than did participants in the low-power ( M = 1.72, p = .004) and control ( M = 1.67, p = .031) conditions. The low-power and control conditions did not differ from each other, p = .448.

For the UH dimension, a main effect of valence, F (1, 236) = 95.58, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .29 revealed that participants rated themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.71, SD = 0.22) than negative ( M = 1.19, SD = 0.24) UH traits. However, UH trait ratings did not differ across power conditions ( M high-power = 1.96, M control = 1.93, M low-power = 1.95), F (2, 236) = 0.46, p = .632, as shown in Fig 4 . Valence interacted with power, F (2, 236) = 28.46, p < .01, ƞ 2 = .19. Simple effects analysis showed that there were differences among the conditions for positive UH traits, F (2, 236) = 20.13, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .15. Specifically, participants in the low-power condition ( M = 2.52) viewed themselves as having fewer positive UH traits than did participants in the control ( M = 2.74, p < .001) and high-power ( M = 2.87, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions also differed from each other, p = .009. There were also differences among the power conditions for negative UH traits, F (2, 236) = 19.15, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .14. Participants in the low-power condition ( M = 1.40) viewed themselves as having more negative UH traits than did participants in the control ( M = 1.12, p < .001) and high-power ( M = 1.04, p < .021) conditions. The control and high-power conditions did not differ from each other, p = .188.

Concerning the ratings of meta-perceptions of observers, a 3 (power: high vs. control vs. low) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (trait: HN vs. UH) interaction effect was not found, F (1, 77) = .23, p = .795. Then, separate 3 (power: high vs. low vs. control) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) repeated-measures ANCOVAs for each type of human trait were conducted. For HN traits, a main effect of valence was found, F (1, 236) = 40.15, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .15, indicating that participants rated themselves as having more positive ( M = 2.62, SD = 0.21) than negative ( M = 1.53, SD = 0.31) HN traits. However, no main effect of power was found ( M low-power = 2.06; M control = 2.05; M high-power = 2.10), F (2, 236) = .73, p = .482, as shown in Fig 5 . There was an interaction between valence and power, F (2, 236) = 20.67, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .15, with simple effects showing that for positive HN traits, there were differences among the power conditions, F (2, 236) = 24.70, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .17. Specifically, participants in the low-power condition ( M = 2.44) viewed themselves as having fewer positive HN traits than did participants in the control ( M = 2.60, p = .006) and high-power ( M = 2.82, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions also differed from each other, p < .001. Additionally, there were differences among the power conditions for negative HN traits, F (2, 236) = 7.28, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .06. Participants in the low-power condition ( M = 1.68) viewed themselves as having more negative HN traits than did participants in the control ( M = 1.51, p = .029) and high-power ( M = 1.39, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions did not differ from each other, p = .102.

For UH traits, there was again a robust effect of valence, F (1, 236) = 67.57, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .22, indicating that participants thought they were viewed as having more positive ( M = 2.54) than negative ( M = 1.44) UH traits. There was also an effect of power, F (2, 236) = 8.40, p < 0.001, ƞ 2 = .07. Specifically, participants in the low-power condition ( M = 1.91) viewed themselves as having fewer UH traits than did participants in the control ( M = 2.00, p = .011) and high-power ( M = 2.05, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions did not differ from each other, p = .130, as shown in Fig 5 . Again, valence interacted with power, F (2, 236) = 33.18, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .22. Simple effects analysis showed that there were differences between power conditions for positive UH traits, F (2, 236) = 37.53, p < .001, ƞ 2 = .24. Participants in the low-power condition ( M = 2.28) viewed themselves as having fewer positive UH traits than did participants in the control ( M = 2.56, p < .001) and high-power ( M = 2.78, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions also differed from each other, p < .001. There were also differences among the power conditions for negative UH traits, F (2, 236) = 6.71, p = .001, ƞ 2 = .05. Participants in the low-power condition ( M = 1.54) viewed themselves as having more negative UH traits than did participants in the control ( M = 1.44, p = .046) and high-power ( M = 1.33, p < .001) conditions. The control and high-power conditions did not differ from each other, p = .094.

Recent research has shown that power effects are so ubiquitous that they can have a psychological impact even outside an individual’s awareness (likely by activating power’s mental representation; see Smith and Galinsky [ 43 ]). Using a different methodology, Experiment 3 provided a more robust link between the HN traits and self-perception, as well as between the UH traits and meta-perception.

More importantly, these results show that the self-dehumanization effect only occurred among low-power individuals. There were no differences observed between the high-power and control conditions. In the control condition, participants just performed a free-will task, which may have given them a sense of control. This might explain why the effects of the high-power and control conditions did not differ. Meanwhile, previous studies have shown that powerful individuals show a greater number of human traits, such as agency and cognitive flexibility [ 5 , 44 ], perhaps because the human traits examined in previous studies have been positive. This is consistent with the current finding that individuals in the high-power condition attributed more positive human traits to themselves compared to those in the control condition.

General Discussion

In all three experiments, we used different power manipulations and measures of perceived humanity to provide empirical evidence for our notion of the self-dehumanizing consequences of perceived powerlessness. First, people in low-power positions viewed themselves as less human than did those in high-power positions, and the effects occurred even within an implied power situation with no clear power cues. Second, as predicted, HN and UH traits were both relevant dimensions of self-dehumanization. More importantly, these two dimensions played different roles in self-dehumanization when powerlessness was experienced. Specially, a decrease in power induces the HN traits of self-dehumanization in self-perception and the UH traits in meta-perceptions. Third, the powerless believed they were viewed as less human not only by people in the power dynamic (the powerful) but also the outside observers. Moreover, all of the results were supported after controlling for mood and the valence of dehumanization traits. That is, self-dehumanization was a consequence of powerless rather than an incidental result of a change in mood or negative self-view. Thus, this study demonstrates that experiencing powerless shapes self-dehumanization and is an important extension of theories of power and dehumanization.

Implications for Power Research

This research extends previous knowledge regarding powerlessness by providing evidence that experiencing powerless has implications for our self-perception and meta-perception of human qualities. Powerless individuals express an indifference to subjectivity (self-dehumanization in its extreme form, particularly regarding HN traits), which may explain the tendency towards inhibition when powerless is experienced. Our work extends this view by demonstrating the consequences of the denial of HN traits on the self-perception of powerless individuals. Meanwhile, our findings indicate that powerless individuals see themselves as lacking in qualities that distinguish humans from other animals in meta-perception. Importantly, this is consistent with the finding that powerful individuals dehumanize powerless individuals [ 18 , 19 ], implying that powerless individuals not only pay closer attention to the state of power but also have a self-view that mirrors that of the powerful individual. Furthermore, the same effect occurs with respect to observers. This is consistent with the notion that an individual experiencing powerless is more sensitive towards others [ 45 ] and pays more attention to social contexts [ 46 ]. Our work extends this view by demonstrating the consequences of the denial of UH traits on the meta-perception of powerless individuals.

This research also augments our knowledge of the stability of power hierarchies [ 47 ]; such hierarchies can fundamentally alter one’s self-perception of humanity and may thus be important contributors to powerless individuals’ psychological states.

Implications for Dehumanization Research

Early research emphasized the fact that dehumanization processes typically occur in the context of immorality, aggression, or extremity. Recent work, however, has found that dehumanizing others can be conceptualized as a subtle daily phenomenon [ 21 , 48 ]. Our findings broaden the domain of self-dehumanization by providing important reflections on the role of ordinary interpersonal relationships in the perception of our own humanity. Daily engagements in disadvantageous relationships (e.g., in the low-power position) appear to be sufficient to cause us to perceive ourselves as possessing fewer human qualities.

It is important to note that our results provide a model that suggests that self-dehumanization in its most subtle forms is associated with perceived powerlessness. This also supports the convenient two-dimensional framework [ 10 ] presented in previous studies on humanity [ 11 , 49 – 51 ]. The results presented here support the notion that human nature plays a role in interpersonal forms of maltreatment [ 11 , 14 , 15 ]. Consistent with previous findings, we argue that individuals’ entry into states that deny their basic HN traits in positions of low power is an adaptive response designed to cope with uncertainty and threats in the social environment [ 14 ]. Without the capacity for self-dehumanization, people would view themselves as human in the way that they perceive powerful individuals: as sensitive to pain and willing to obtain agency. Therefore, they would experience pain and depression and would be unable to endure such environments. In short, the mechanical state affords powerless individuals the psychological benefits of avoiding self-awareness and self-will [ 14 ].

Moreover, meta-perception refers to the ability to view oneself from the perspective of others. Our results support that UH traits play a role in powerless individuals’ meta-perceptions of those involved in the power dynamic. This is congruent with the theory that denial of UH traits lays an important role in power [ 18 , 19 ]. We argue that powerless individuals who view themselves as possessing fewer UH traits may add value to their relationships, as self-dehumanization makes it easier for powerless individuals to establish and maintain relationships with others. More importantly, previous research has investigated the observer effects on targets’ action [ 52 ], but the empirical evidence in support of observer effects on dehumanization is rare (but see [ 14 ]). As far as we are aware, the current study is the first to test dehumanization directly from the perspective of the meta-perception of observers not involved in a power dynamic. In observers’ eyes, the powerless are likely to have few UH traits since the powerless have few or no opportunities to express these traits to others. Our work supports the notion that the powerless perceive themselves through the eyes’ of the powerful similarly to how observers perceive them—that is, as possessing few UH traits.

Our work also provides important insights into the link between power and dehumanization. Previous research has traditionally demonstrated various means of dehumanization related to the perception of others [ 11 , 50 , 53 ] and other groups [ 13 , 49 , 51 , 54 ]. Our findings support previous research in which dehumanization was experienced via the self-concepts of perpetrator [ 15 ] and victim [ 14 ], indicating that people self-dehumanize in response to a perceived powerless.

Limitations and Future Directions

The present study was theoretically motivated, and the findings were consistent with those of previous studies. However, there were some limitations, and these will guide the direction of future research. First, these experiments focused exclusively on recall procedures and simulated situations; thus, this research should be extended to more interpersonal, unequal, and ecologically valid social power contexts such as social class, status, gender, and race. Second, it should be noted that only explicit measures of dehumanization were used, allowing direct access to participants’ self-perception of humanity. Although this provided a good demonstration of self-dehumanization effects as a result of power priming, it is not clear whether this self-dehumanizing orientation would extend to implicit methods; for instance, whether self-dehumanization would be evident in implicit self-concepts, using methodologies such as the Implicit Association Test or the Go/No-Go Association Test. Third, to the best of our knowledge, this study was the first to investigate how self-dehumanization was involved in powerlessness. All of our participants were Chinese, and previous studies have shown that Chinese participants differ from Western participants in the contribution of HN and UH traits [ 49 , 55 , 56 ]. Therefore, future research should investigate cultural differences in self-dehumanization of the powerless. Perhaps more interestingly, previous research has shown that illegitimate or unstable powerlessness can reverse the effects of powerlessness, as illegitimacy disinhibits powerless individuals [ 57 ], enhances their self-regulation in goal pursuit, and promotes greater action orientation and cognitive flexibility than is evidenced among powerful individuals [ 58 , 59 ]. Instability also makes powerless individuals think more creatively [ 60 ]. Therefore, a worthy avenue for future research would be to investigate whether illegitimate or unstable powerlessness serves to eliminate self-dehumanization.

Funding Statement

The present research is funded by "Major Project of National Social Science Foundation (12&ZD228)", "National Fund for Fostering Talents of Basic Science (J1103601 & J1210048)" and "the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities". The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Language — The Power of Language: How Words Shape Our World

The Power of Language: How Words Shape Our World

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Published: Sep 7, 2023

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The essence of language and communication, the complex relationship between language and power, using language to promote transparency, accountability, and equity.

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Essay on Power of Unity

Students are often asked to write an essay on Power of Unity in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Power of Unity

The essence of unity.

Unity is a powerful force that binds individuals together. It allows us to overcome challenges and achieve common goals.

Unity in Diversity

Our world is diverse. Yet, when we unite, we celebrate this diversity and become stronger. Our differences become our strength.

Unity and Progress

Unity fosters progress. When we work together, we can accomplish tasks faster and more efficiently.

In conclusion, the power of unity is immense. It brings progress, celebrates diversity, and helps us overcome challenges. Always remember, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

Also check:

• Speech on Power of Unity

250 Words Essay on Power of Unity

The concept of unity.

Unity is a potent force that can accomplish remarkable feats. It’s a concept that transcends individual capabilities, converging diverse strengths into a powerful collective. This principle is reflected in the adage, “United we stand, divided we fall,” underscoring the idea that unity often leads to success, while disunity can lead to downfall.

Unity in Diverse Fields

The power of unity is evident in various fields. In science, the collective behavior of particles results in phenomena like superconductivity. In sociology, cohesive societies tend to prosper, while divided ones often struggle. In politics, unity forms the bedrock of successful democracies, where diverse viewpoints coalesce to form robust policies.

The Power of Unity

Unity’s power lies in its ability to foster collaboration and mutual support. It helps individuals overcome personal limitations, enabling them to contribute to a collective goal. This shared purpose can lead to the creation of innovative solutions and the achievement of seemingly insurmountable tasks.

Unity in the Face of Challenges

In challenging times, unity becomes even more critical. It helps societies withstand crises, whether they are natural disasters, economic downturns, or social unrest. A united front can provide resilience, ensuring survival and recovery.

In conclusion, unity’s power is transformative, turning individual efforts into collective achievements. It’s a force that can overcome adversity, foster innovation, and ensure societal progress. Thus, embracing unity is a step towards building a more collaborative, resilient, and prosperous world.

500 Words Essay on Power of Unity

Introduction.

Unity is a principle that not only enhances the strength of a community but also enriches its potential for success. It is a potent tool that transcends the barriers of individual abilities, merging them into a collective force capable of achieving remarkable feats. The power of unity is often underestimated, but its influence is omnipresent, from the microscopic cells in our body working together to maintain life to nations uniting to tackle global crises.

The Power of Unity in Society

Unity in society is akin to the roots of a tree, invisible yet holding the entire structure upright. It is the unspoken agreement among people to stand up for each other, to share resources, and to work towards mutual prosperity. The power of unity is evident in the way communities come together during natural disasters, economic crises, or social unrest. It is the collective strength of individuals that helps societies withstand adversities and rebuild.

Unity in Diverse Cultures

The world is a mosaic of diverse cultures, languages, and beliefs. Yet, beneath this diversity lies an inherent unity that binds humanity together. This unity in diversity is a testament to the power of unity. It is a reminder that despite our differences, we are fundamentally the same, sharing the same planet and the same human condition. The power of unity is what enables diverse societies to coexist peacefully, promoting cultural exchange and mutual respect.

Unity in the Digital Age

In the digital age, the power of unity has assumed a new dimension. The internet has connected people across geographical boundaries, fostering global communities united by common interests or causes. Online movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter have demonstrated the power of unity in effecting social change. These movements have mobilized millions of people worldwide, highlighting the potential of unity in the digital era.

Unity and Personal Growth

On a personal level, unity plays a crucial role in fostering growth and development. When individuals unite, they share knowledge, experiences, and skills. This collective learning environment accelerates personal growth and broadens perspectives. Unity also cultivates empathy and understanding, essential traits for personal development.

In conclusion, the power of unity is an extraordinary force that can overcome formidable challenges and drive progress. It is a testament to the strength of collective action and the potential of shared objectives. Whether it is in societies, diverse cultures, the digital age, or personal growth, the power of unity is a constant, reaffirming the age-old adage, “United we stand, divided we fall.” As we navigate the complexities of the 21st century, let us harness the power of unity to build a more inclusive, resilient, and prosperous world.

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April 2, 2024

Eclipse Psychology: When the Sun and Moon Align, So Do We

How a total solar eclipse creates connection, unity and caring among the people watching

By Katie Weeman

Students observing a partial solar eclipse on June 21, 2020, in Lhokseumawe, Aceh Province, Indonesia.

NurPhoto/Getty Images

This article is part of a special report on the total solar eclipse that will be visible from parts of the U.S., Mexico and Canada on April 8, 2024.

It was 11:45 A.M. on August 21, 2017. I was in a grassy field in Glendo, Wyo., where I was surrounded by strangers turned friends, more than I could count—and far more people than had ever flocked to this town, population 210 or so. Golden sunlight blanketed thousands of cars parked in haphazard rows all over the rolling hills. The shadows were quickly growing longer, the air was still, and all of our faces pointed to the sky. As the moon progressively covered the sun, the light melted away, the sky blackened, and the temperature dropped. At the moment of totality, when the moon completely covered the sun , some people around me suddenly gasped. Some cheered; some cried; others laughed in disbelief.

Exactly 53 minutes later, in a downtown park in Greenville, S.C., the person who edited this story and the many individuals around him reacted in exactly the same ways.

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When a total solar eclipse descends—as one will across Mexico, the U.S. and Canada on April 8—everyone and everything in the path of totality are engulfed by deep shadow. Unlike the New Year’s Eve countdown that lurches across the globe one blocky time zone after another, the shadow of totality is a dark spot on Earth that measures about 100 miles wide and cruises steadily along a path, covering several thousand miles in four to five hours. The human experiences along that path are not isolated events any more than individual dominoes are isolated pillars in a formation. Once that first domino is tipped, we are all linked into something bigger—and unstoppable. We all experience the momentum and the awe together.

When this phenomenon progresses from Mexico through Texas, the Great Lakes and Canada on April 8, many observers will describe the event as life-changing, well beyond expectations. “You feel a sense of wrongness in those moments before totality , when your surroundings change so rapidly,” says Kate Russo, an author, psychologist and eclipse chaser. “Our initial response is to ask ourselves, ‘Is this an opportunity or a threat?’ When the light changes and the temperature drops, that triggers primal fear. When we have that threat response, our whole body is tuned in to taking in as much information as possible.”

Russo, who has witnessed 13 total eclipses and counting, has interviewed eclipse viewers from around the world. She continues to notice the same emotions felt by all. They begin with that sense of wrongness and primal fear as totality approaches. When totality starts, we feel powerful awe and connection to the world around us. A sense of euphoria develops as we continue watching, and when it’s over, we have a strong desire to seek out the next eclipse.

“The awe we feel during a total eclipse makes us think outside our sense of self. It makes you more attuned to things outside of you,” says Sean Goldy, a postdoctoral fellow at the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Goldy and his team analyzed Twitter data from nearly 2.9 million people during the 2017 total solar eclipse. They found that people within the path of totality were more likely to use not only language that expressed awe but also language that conveyed being unified and affiliated with others. That meant using more “we” words (“us” instead of “me”) and more humble words (“maybe” instead of “always”).

“During an eclipse, people have a broader, more collective focus,” Goldy says. “We also found that the more people expressed awe, the more likely they were to use those ‘we’ words, indicating that people who experience this emotion feel more connected with others.”

This connectivity ties into a sociological concept known as “collective effervescence,” Russo and Goldy say. When groups of humans come together over a shared experience, the energy is greater than the sum of its parts. If you’ve ever been to a large concert or sporting event, you’ve felt the electricity generated by a hive of humans. It magnifies our emotions.

I felt exactly that unified feeling in the open field in Glendo, as if thousands of us were breathing as one. But that’s not the only way people can experience a total eclipse.

During the 2008 total eclipse in Mongolia “I was up on a peak,” Russo recounts. “I was with only my husband and a close friend. We had left the rest of our 25-person tour group at the bottom of the hill. From that vantage point, when the shadow came sweeping in, there was not one man-made thing I could see: no power lines, no buildings or structures. Nothing tethered me to time: It could have been thousands of years ago or long into the future. In that moment, it was as if time didn’t exist.”

Giving us the ability to unhitch ourselves from time—to stop dwelling on time is a unique superpower of a total eclipse. In Russo’s work as a clinical psychologist, she notices patterns in our modern-day mentality. “People with anxiety tend to spend a lot of time in the future. And people with depression spend a lot of time in the past,” she says. An eclipse, time and time again, has the ability to snap us back into the present, at least for a few minutes. “And when you’re less anxious and worried, it opens you up to be more attuned to other people, feel more connected, care for others and be more compassionate,” Goldy says.

Russo, who founded Being in the Shadow , an organization that provides information about total solar eclipses and organizes eclipse events around the world, has experienced this firsthand. Venue managers regularly tell her that eclipse crowds are among the most polite and humble: they follow the rules; they pick up their garbage—they care.

Eclipses remind us that we are part of something bigger, that we are connected with something vast. In the hours before and after totality you have to wear protective glasses to look at the sun, to prevent damage to your eyes. But during the brief time when the moon blocks the last of the sun’s rays, you can finally lower your glasses and look directly at the eclipse. It’s like making eye contact with the universe.

“In my practice, usually if someone says, ‘I feel insignificant,’ that’s a negative thing. But the meaning shifts during an eclipse,” Russo says. To feel insignificant in the moon’s shadow instead means that your sense of self shrinks, that your ego shrinks, she says.

The scale of our “big picture” often changes after witnessing the awe of totality, too. “When you zoom out—really zoom out—it blows away our differences,” Goldy says. When you sit in the shadow of a celestial rock blocking the light of a star 400 times its size that burns at 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit on its surface, suddenly that argument with your partner, that bill sitting on your counter or even the differences among people’s beliefs, origins or politics feel insignificant. When we shift our perspective, connection becomes boundless.

You don’t need to wait for the next eclipse to feel this way. As we travel through life, we lose our relationship with everyday awe. Remember what that feels like? It’s the way a dog looks at a treat or the way my toddler points to the “blue sky!” outside his car window in the middle of rush hour traffic. To find awe, we have to surrender our full attention to the beauty around us. During an eclipse, that comes easily. In everyday life, we may need to be more intentional.

“Totality kick-starts our ability to experience wonder,” Russo says. And with that kick start, maybe we can all use our wonderment faculties more—whether that means pausing for a moment during a morning walk, a hug or a random sunset on a Tuesday. In the continental U.S., we won’t experience another total eclipse until 2044. Let’s not wait until then to seek awe and connection.

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Human rights violated by Swiss inaction on climate, ECHR rules in landmark case

Court finds in favour of group of older Swiss women who claimed weak policies put them at greater risk of death from heatwaves

Weak government climate policies violate fundamental human rights, the European court of human rights has ruled.

In a landmark decision on one of three major climate cases, the first such rulings by an international court, the ECHR raised judicial pressure on governments to stop filling the atmosphere with gases that make extreme weather more violent.

The court’s top bench ruled that Switzerland had violated the rights of a group of older Swiss women to family life, but threw out a French mayor’s case against France and that of a group of young Portuguese people against 32 European countries.

“It feels like a mixed result because two of the cases were inadmissible,” said Corina Heri, a law researcher at the University of Zürich. “But actually it’s a huge success.”

The court, which calls itself “the conscience of Europe”, found that Switzerland had failed to comply with its duties to stop climate change. It also set out a path for organisations to bring further cases on behalf of applicants.

The Swiss verdict opens up all 46 members of the Council of Europe to similar cases in national courts that they are likely to lose.

Joie Chowdhury, an attorney at the Centre for International Environmental Law campaign group, said the judgment left no doubt that the climate crisis was a human rights crisis. “We expect this ruling to influence climate action and climate litigation across Europe and far beyond,” she said.

The facts of the three cases varied widely, but they all hinged on the question of whether government inaction on climate change violated fundamental human rights. Some of the governments argued that the cases should not be admitted, and that climate policy should be the subject of national governments rather than international courts.

The plaintiffs attending the hearing in the court in Strasbourg, some as young as 12, celebrated after a member of a panel of 17 judges read out the verdicts. The climate activist Greta Thunberg joined a gathering outside the court before the hearing to encourage faster action.

Anton Foley, who with Thunberg was representing Aurora, a youth group that filed a climate lawsuit against Sweden, said it was “unjust” that responsibility for stopping the climate crisis fell on young people, and praised the Swiss women for stepping up. “We don’t want to be the hope for the older generation. We want them to do this, because we don’t want to fight this fight.”

Thunberg thanked Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, co-president of the KlimaSeniorinnen, for what she had done, as they met outside the courtroom.

The KlimaSeniorinnen, a group of 2,400 older Swiss women, told the court that several of their rights were being violated. Because older women are more likely to die in heatwaves – which have become hotter and more common because of fossil fuels – they argued that Switzerland should do its share to stop the planet heating by the Paris agreement target of 1.5C (2.7F) above preindustrial levels.

The court ruled that Swiss authorities had not acted in time to come up with a good enough strategy to cut emissions. It also found the applicants had not had appropriate access to justice in Switzerland.

But it also rejected the cases of four individual applicants who had joined the KlimaSeniorinnen.

“I’m very happy,” said Nicole Barbry, 70, a member of the KlimaSeniorinnen who had come to Strasbourg. “It’s good that they’re finally listening to us.”

The Portuguese children and young people – who because of their age will see greater climate damage than previous generations – argued that climate-fuelled disasters such as wildfires and smoke threatened their right to life and discriminated against them based on their age.

The court did not admit the case, deciding that the applicants could not bring cases against countries other than Portugal and adding that they had not pursued legal avenues in Portugal against the government.

“Their [the Swiss] win is a win for us, too,” said Sofia Oliveira, a 19-year-old applicant in the Portuguese case. “And a win for everyone.”

The French case, brought by the MEP Damien Carême, argued that France’s failure to do enough to stop climate change violated his rights to life and privacy and family life. Carême filed the case when he was the mayor of Grand-Synthe, a coastal town vulnerable to flooding. The court did not admit the case because Carême no longer lives there.

The ECHR rejects about 90% of all applications it receives as inadmissible but fast-tracked the three climate cases to its top bench because of their urgency. It delayed hearings on six more climate cases to get a result on the rulings on Tuesday.

The rulings will influence three other international courts that are examining the role of government climate policy on human rights.

Charlotte Blattner, a researcher at the University of Berne who specialises in climate law, said the court had delivered a bold judgment in favour of a viable future. “The nature and gravity of the threat of climate change – and the urgency to effectively respond to it – require that governments can and will have to be held accountable for their lack of adequate action,” she said.

The court said that keeping global heating to 1.5C was a key part of protecting human rights, rather than the higher 2C limit that courts had used for rulings on cases in Germany and the Netherlands.

Gerry Liston, a lawyer for the Portuguese children, said the recognition that Switzerland’s policies were not science-based was “by far” the most significant aspect of the ruling. “No European government’s climate policies are aligned with anything near 1.5C, so it will be clear to those working on climate litigation in those countries that there is now a clear basis to bring a case in their national courts.”

• Climate crisis
• European court of human rights
• Human rights (Law)
• Switzerland
• Human rights (Global development)
• Older people

More on this story

World Bank must take ‘quantum leap’ to tackle climate crisis, UN expert says

MPs accuse Charity Commission of legal breach over climate sceptic thinktank

US banks ‘sabotaging’ own net zero plans by livestock financing, report claims

Millions go hungry as a billion meals binned every day, says UN report

Geologists reject declaration of Anthropocene epoch

‘When it’s this hot, time stands still’: surviving west Africa’s blistering heat

Scientists divided over whether record heat is acceleration of climate crisis

February was warmest on record globally, say scientists

Satellite to ‘name and shame’ worst oil and gas methane polluters

John Kerry: US committed to tackling climate crisis despite fossil fuel growth

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Steering Committee Co-Directors

Ray Perrault

Steering committee members.

Erik Brynjolfsson

John Etchemendy

Katrina Ligett

Terah Lyons

James Manyika

Juan Carlos Niebles

Vanessa Parli

Yoav Shoham

Russell Wald

Staff members.

Loredana Fattorini

Nestor Maslej

Letter from the co-directors.

AI has moved into its era of deployment; throughout 2022 and the beginning of 2023, new large-scale AI models have been released every month. These models, such as ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, Whisper, and DALL-E 2, are capable of an increasingly broad range of tasks, from text manipulation and analysis, to image generation, to unprecedentedly good speech recognition. These systems demonstrate capabilities in question answering, and the generation of text, image, and code unimagined a decade ago, and they outperform the state of the art on many benchmarks, old and new. However, they are prone to hallucination, routinely biased, and can be tricked into serving nefarious aims, highlighting the complicated ethical challenges associated with their deployment.

Although 2022 was the first year in a decade where private AI investment decreased, AI is still a topic of great interest to policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, and the public. Policymakers are talking about AI more than ever before. Industry leaders that have integrated AI into their businesses are seeing tangible cost and revenue benefits. The number of AI publications and collaborations continues to increase. And the public is forming sharper opinions about AI and which elements they like or dislike.

AI will continue to improve and, as such, become a greater part of all our lives. Given the increased presence of this technology and its potential for massive disruption, we should all begin thinking more critically about how exactly we want AI to be developed and deployed. We should also ask questions about who is deploying it—as our analysis shows, AI is increasingly defined by the actions of a small set of private sector actors, rather than a broader range of societal actors. This year’s AI Index paints a picture of where we are so far with AI, in order to highlight what might await us in the future.

- Jack Clark and Ray Perrault

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