Why does power leave people seemingly coldhearted?
Sukhvinder Obhi uses former US president Bill Clinton as an example of a politician who 'seemed to ooze with empathy' in an article published Sunday in the New York Times.
Research shows that people in high positions of power have difficulty empathizing with those “beneath” them. But why does power leave people seemingly coldhearted?
Sukhvinder Obhi, associate professor of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour, explains the science behind the phenomenon in an article published July 25 in the New York Times.
Obhi writes that power appears to change how the brain itself responds to others.
He says that while powerful people are neurologically not motivated to care, they are – at least in theory – redeemable.
Read ‘Powerful and Coldhearted’ on the New York Times’ website.
