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Doing many things at a time: Lack of power decreases the ability to multitask

Cai, RA; Guinote, A; (2017) Doing many things at a time: Lack of power decreases the ability to multitask. British Journal of Social Psychology , 56 (3) pp. 475-492. 10.1111/bjso.12190. Green open access

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Abstract

Three studies investigated the effects of power on the ability to pursue multiple, concomitant goals, also known as multitasking. It was predicted that powerless participants will show lower multitasking ability than control and powerful participants. Study 1 focused on self-reported ability to multitask in a sample of executives and subordinate employees. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the ability to dual-task and to switch between tasks, respectively, using dual-task and task-switching paradigms. Across the studies, powerless individuals were less able to effectively multitask compared with control and powerful participants, suggesting that the detrimental effects of lack of power extend beyond single-task environments, shown in past research, into multitasking environments. Underlying mechanisms are discussed.

Type: Article
Title: Doing many things at a time: Lack of power decreases the ability to multitask
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12190
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12190
Language: English
Additional information: © 2017 The British Psychological Society. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Cai, RA; Guinote, A; (2017) Doing many things at a time: Lack of power decreases the ability to multitask. British Journal of Social Psychology, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12190. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Keywords: Dual-tasking, goal pursuit, multitasking, power, task-switching
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Experimental Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1539840
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