Does Power Affect Perception in Social Networks? Two Arguments and an Experimental Test

Abstract

This research investigates competing arguments about the relationship between power and perception in social networks. One line of research predicts that occupants of structurally advantaged positions have more accurate perceptions of ties in their networks (i.e., who is tied to whom); another line asserts that lower-power actors have more accurate perceptions. On the basis of previous work, we suggest that any relationship between power and perception (whether positive or negative) will be mediated by the distance between the perceiver and relevant ties. We explicate these arguments and test them experimentally. The results suggest that as distance between the perceiver and the tie increases, low-power actors have more accurate perceptions of the network than high-power actors.