When I first heard accounts of film producer Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior, my mind devised punishments fitting for Renaissance Europe or the film A Clockwork Orange: Cover his face with a shame mask widely used centuries ago in Germany; shock his frontal lobes so that he’d start empathizing with the women he’s preyed on. When we learn of injustice, it’s only human to focus on how to eliminate or punish the person responsible.
Sex, Power, and the Systems That Enable Men Like Harvey Weinstein
When we hear accounts of film producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexually predatory behavior, it’s natural to want to punish him, to focus on the evil that resides in the few “bad apples.” But my research into the social psychology of power suggests that — without exculpating corrupt individuals — we need to take a hard look at the social systems that give rise to their actions. Power makes ordinary citizens behave like Weinstein, a phenomenon that might be called the banality of the abuses of power. People who feel powerful are prone to two shortcomings: They develop empathy deficits and they behave in impulsive fashion. Our research shows that these two tendencies manifest in inappropriate sexual behavior in male-dominated contexts. The challenge, then, is to change social systems in which the abuses of power arise. First, we need to hear tales from those abused by the powerful, as these tales galvanize change. We also need more women in power, as greater numerical balance between people of different groups constrains the abuses of power. Finally, we need to take on the myths that sustain the abuses of power, such as the belief that women are aroused by men in power; research shows the opposite is the case.