Five Sources of Power
If you’ve ever seen the classic Steven Spielberg film Jaws, you know that it is, on the surface, the tale of a small coastal town being terrorized by a nasty, man-
Researchers have identified five types of power—
- Legitimate power comes from an individual’s role or title. The president, the supervisor at work, and the coach of a team all possess legitimate power as elected or appointed leaders. In Jaws, the elected mayor of Amity Island, Larry Vaughn, has some degree of legitimate power, as does Martin Brody, the chief of police, though his power is subordinate to the mayor’s authority.
- Coercive power stems from a person’s ability to threaten or harm others. A harsh dictator who keeps his people under threat of violence or economic hardship holds such power, but so does a boss who threatens to dock or demote employees if they step out of line. In Jaws, the mayor—
whose primary concern is protecting the town’s tourist- dependent economy— uses this kind of power to influence or override decisions made by the police chief: he hired Chief Brody, and he can fire him. 
QUINT, CHIEF BRODY, and Matt Hooper each bring something different to the shark-hunting mission and derive their power from different sources. © Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection - Reward power derives from an individual’s capacity to provide rewards. For example, your boss might offer all the people in your department a paid day off if they work late three nights in a row on an important project. In the film, the mayor relies on reward power: hundreds of local fishermen set out to catch the shark in hopes of winning a monetary reward.
- Expert power comes from the information or knowledge that a leader possesses. Expert power is divided in Jaws. Faced with any other kind of homicide, Brody’s credentials as a former New York City police officer might have given him a fair amount of expert power, but as a newcomer without fishing experience, he gets little respect from the islanders. Matt Hooper, who studies sharks, fares a little bit better. But Quint, who has decades of shark-
hunting experience, quickly emerges as the true expert, garnering the respect of his crewmates. - Referent power stems from the admiration, respect, or affection that followers have for a leader. The popular kids in your high school may have had the power to influence other students’ style of dress or way of behaving simply because others admired them. In Jaws, Quint demonstrates this kind of power: when he relays his story as a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, which sank in shark-
infested waters during World War II, Brody and Hooper gain a new sense of understanding of, and admiration for, Quint’s obsession with killing sharks.
It’s important to note that these types of power are not exclusive of one another; indeed, most leaders wield several, if not all, of these types of power. Consider the instructor for your course. He or she demonstrates legitimate power as your teacher but may also exercise reward and expert power, providing you with some extra credit and offering valuable information, respectively. As another example, Quint demonstrates legitimate power as captain of his own vessel as well as expert and referent power. Note also that individuals gain power only if others grant it to them. That’s true to some degree even of coercive power: for example, Brody could have chosen to quit his job early on rather than to acquiesce to the mayor. Thus group members often decide to allow a particular individual to lead them.