Redefining Power in Social Psychology

This article synthesizes cutting-edge research from our special issue examining power across groups, communities, and nations to advance a fundamental reconceptualization that reveals power's inherent plurality, dynamism, and cultural embeddedness. Drawing on evidence from a diverse set of countries and innovative methodologies, we demonstrate that traditional definitions of power as asymmetric resource control fail to capture its real-world complexity. The collected research reveals three critical insights. First, power operates through multiple, intersecting mechanisms—from ideological frameworks like hegemonic masculinity to seemingly benevolent helping behaviors that maintain hierarchies. Second, power's meaning and operation vary dramatically across cultural contexts, with the power-status relationship ranging from nearly synonymous in some societies to entirely disconnected in others. Third, marginalized groups develop sophisticated alternative conceptualizations of power as collective resistance, cultural preservation, and mutual aid that enable transformation despite structural disadvantages. These findings necessitate theoretical frameworks that accommodate power's plurality while identifying general principles, examine dynamic processes rather than static attributes, and integrate multiple levels of analysis. We argue for moving beyond imposed definitions to understand how diverse groups conceptualize their own agency, examining not just domination but resistance, and developing interventions that promote more equitable power distributions.