Structural properties of perceived power relations in an educational setting

Students' perceptions of the social power of twelve representative figures on the college campus were analyzed using the Tucker-Messick individual differences model for multidimensional scaling. Based upon the work of Cliff and Pennell, the power judgments of four real individuals who spanned the four-dimensional space of individuals were scaled. These perceptual spaces were then interpreted in terms of the other variables studied. Of the four spaces examined, all contained a component which reflected the judged overall power of the figures. For two of the spaces in which subjects were also highly external in their locus of control beliefs, overall power was the only reliable dimension. The remaining two spaces were more complex and contained dimensions reflecting in one case expertise and in the other propinquity as bases of social influence.