ABSTRACT
Dispensing rewards can confer a certain degree of power on the provider. Being in a position to release or withhold sought-after benefits makes possible the exercise of control over recipients. In order to be favoured in this way, they must abide by the conditions of receipt that the rewarder decides to impose. This is likely to be particularly telling when the benefit is highly desirable and alternative sources are limited. While people have a reasonable understanding of what power is and can recognise it in its most obvious forms, they are surprising ill-informed about the more subtle ways in which they can be influenced by it.
