Power, Status, Legitimacy, and Shame in Organizations

Abstract

The power-status theory of emotions posits that emotions arise out of a process in which people compare the levels of status and power that they experience against some standard of status and power adequacy. Power-status theory is effective at predicting emotions, but it does not formally specify a structural mechanism that explains how actors determine what constitutes adequate or inadequate power and status. The authors argue that legitimacy, or the notion that actors have a right to expect compliance and deference, serves as this mechanism. Focusing on shame, the authors illustrate that perceived losses in legitimacy mediate a substantial portion of the links among status loss, power loss..