Why Men in Power Devalue Women

Powerful men—those with resources and influence—are more likely to approach a woman. While that might feel positive for the woman initially, there is a caveat to consider. Researchers have found that men with power are more prone to view women by their sexual body parts instead of as whole human beings (Xiao et al., 2019). They can then approach a woman’s "parts" to satisfy their sexual desires. Researchers refer to this primed power male response as analytical processing as opposed to configural, or holistic, processing.

While it may sound as if "analytical" would be a superior form of relating, it can be devoid of an emotional and humanistic connection to a whole person (as opposed to parts that can be used for personal gain).

The mainstream pornography industry, which largely caters to male sexual pleasure, offers an example of this concept in action and provides a cautionary tale. Sun et al. (2017) studied a relatively recent phenomenon in pornography of........

© Psychology Today