Psychological power increases the desire for social distance but reduces the sense of social distance

Earlier research shows that feelings of power increase a sense of social distance toward others. In this research, we show that there are two sides to this effect. On the one hand, psychological power increases the desire for greater social distance toward others in the social environment. On the other hand, psychological power decreases the sense of distance, meaning that high-power people perceive that their social environment is closer to them, compared to low-power people. Six studies (four preregistered), conducted in the USA, the Netherlands, and China support this idea. Studies 1–4 measure and manipulate power and find that power increases the desire for social distance, but decreases the sense of distance. Studies 5–6 show that the former effect is conditional on the latter: When people in their social environment are prevented from seeking closeness (due to COVID-19 measures), the effect of power on the desire for distance is blocked.