Get out of my way!!
Here’s some food for thought. Let me set the scene; you are standing in a buffet line when a person skips everybody, grabs some food, and walks away. Of course you get pissed off, but since that person didn’t feel the need to wait in line, that person seemed pretty powerful, right?
Well, according to a study conducted by the University of Amsterdam reveals that people who break rules are looked upon as being more powerful. The study also shows that powerful people often display a lack of social rules.
According to NDJ News, “In the study, subjects were asked to watch short video clips showing a man placing his feet on the table, swing his cigarette ash on the floor and being rude when he ordered his lunch. People watching the clips unanimously agreed that they saw the man as being powerful and believed that nicer people are less convincing and less influential.”
There was another study stated on Scientific American saying, “In another test, being publicly rude also seemed to engender a perceived sense of power. A hundred twenty-six subjects watched one of two videos. One of a man sitting in a sidewalk café and acting courteously, the other of the same man stretching his legs out on a chair next to him, tossing his cigarette ashes wherever, and barking orders at the cafe staff. Subjects thought the crude man was more likely to be a decision-maker and get his way than the same man behaving himself.”
So does that mean you have to be rude to be powerful? No, some people are just naturally jack-a$ses. So remember that next time someone is rude to you, they may not be powerful or important, just a rude person.
When someone cuts you in line do you say something? Also, do you believe people who are rude are powerful, or just a-holes?
