The Five Bases of Interpersonal Power in House, M.D. S01E09
Analysis by S. Vencilao
THEORETICAL OVERVIEW
Power can be derived from many sources. How it’s obtained in an organization depends on the type of power being sought. John French and Bertram Raven suggested five interpersonal bases of power:
* Legitimate Power: a person’s ability to influence others by being in a more powerful position. A person at a higher level has power over people below. In theory, organizational equals have equal legitimate power. However, each person with legitimate power uses it with a personal flair. Legitimate power is similar to the concept of authority.
* Reward Power: a person’s ability to reward the behaviour of others. This is often used to back up legitimate power. If followers value the rewards that the person can provide, they may respond to orders, requests, and directions.
* Coercive Power: a person’s ability to punish noncompliance of followers. Followers may comply because of fear.
* Expert Power: a person’s ability to influence others based on special expertise.
* Referent Power: a person’s ability to influence others based on charisma due to personality or style of behaviour. Charisma is a term often used to describe the magnetic personalities of some individuals. However, some contend that charismatic individuals do not always make the best leaders.
SYNOPSIS
Parts of the episode which are relevant to the theory:
* Foreman follows House’s tip to add IVIG to John’s treatment even though it contradicts the conclusions already made by Dr. Hamilton.
* Foreman informs Cameron and Chase that Hamilton has offered him a job. Cameron says that Foreman already has the most prestigious fellowship but Foreman says that Hamilton is offering him a partnership so Cameron asks why he didn’t agree right away. Foreman doesn’t think that House would let him go just to be mean to him.
* House and Foreman discuss Foreman’s job offer: “If you think he’s a better doctor than I am, then you should take the job. Otherwise, you should get him to buy you two or three more nostalgic lunches and politely decline.” Foreman: “It’s that simple? I should just ignore the mockery and abuse?”
APPLICATION
The only interpersonal base of power that Dr. House does not seem to possess on the same high level as the others is referent power.
Legitimate Power. Dr. House, as the leader of the team, has legitimate power over them.. There is a part in the beginning of the episode that alludes to the hiring of the team members and we learn that House himself looks over the résumés and decides who to hire. In John’s case, even though Cuddy clarifies that the patient has been entrusted to Foreman; House is still Foreman’s superior and has the right to give his input. The book mentions that each person with legitimate power uses it with personal flair, and we see that Dr. House indeed shows off his legitimate power in his own quirky way. When he is with his team and Dr. Foreman is going over the medical data of the patient, House lets Foreman run the show until House brings up John’s paralysis, which is the aspect of the case that House is most intrigued by. At this point, he starts opposing Foreman and the other two team members, Cameron and Chase, are confused on whose orders they should follow. As the episode progresses, however, we see that House is still clearly the leader of the team and his orders are obeyed, even by Foreman.
Reward Power. The background of the story is that Cameron, Chase, and Foreman are all taking their fellowship with him. Cameron remarks to Foreman when he tells them about Hamilton’s offer that they already have the most prestigious fellowship. Clearly, being a member of Dr. House team is a great privilege and is a reward in itself because, crazy as he may be, Dr. House is a brilliant and well-known diagnostician and his recommendations would be advantageous for their careers.
Coercive Power. Because of his position as the team leader, Dr. House also has coercive power, since we know that he hired them, we can assume that he can also fire them. And just like his recommendations would be respected by the medical community, then his failure to endorse someone could also hurt their careers. When Foreman is thinking about accepting Dr. Hamilton’s offer of partnership, he says that there is a possibility that House would not let him out of his current commitment, just to jerk him around. So Foreman also has a fear that House is capable of punishing him.
Expert Power.The most blatant display of House’s expert power is when he says to Foreman, “If it was my case, I’d be adding a little IVIG to the mix.” Once Foreman is out of House’s office, he calls someone on his phone and instructs them to give John IVIG. This is worth noting because Foreman has been adamantly opposing House’s opinions and sticking to Hamilton’s treatment, however, his recognition of House’s expertise prompts him to take on House’s suggestion. In addition, there is a scene where House tells Foreman that if he thinks Hamilton is a better doctor than House, then he should take the job with Hamilton right away, but if he thinks House is a better doctor, then he should just decline Hamilton’s offer. Foreman answers, “It’s that simple? I should just ignore the mockery and abuse?” signifying that Foreman does think House is a better doctor.
Referent Power. The previous excerpt about House’s expert power also works to say something about House’s referent power. Foreman does think that House is the better doctor, but part of what is causing his second thoughts about staying with House is the seemingly uncaring way House treats his colleagues and his patients. Fortunately for him, House is strong enough on the other bases of power that his lack of charisma does not hurt his power.