Legitimacy Crisis? Behavioral Approach and Inhibition When Power Differences are Left Unexplained

Possessing social power leads to approach-related affect and behavior, whereas lacking power leads to inhibition (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, Psychol Rev 110:265–284, 2003). However, such effects should be moderated by whether an explanation is given for these power differences. Participants were assigned to a low-power or high-power role and then interacted with a confederate in the opposite role. Participants were told these role assignments were made for legitimate (expertise) or illegitimate (nepotism) reasons, or were given no explanation. High-power participants showed more approach-related affect and behavior and reported less dissonance than low-power participants, but many of these effects were moderated by the presence versus absence of an explanation. When no explanation for power differences was provided, high-power participants exhibited more approach-related behavior than low-power participants but also felt more guilt and unease. Implications for system justification theory and the literature on social power are discussed.     

The Evolution of ‘Homegrown Conditionality’ in India: IMF Relations

This article explores the historical relationship between the Government of India (GOI) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a successful model for the ways in which a developing country can learn to work with and through multilateral organisations to promote economic and political development while sustaining democratic institutions and relative international political autonomy. In the mid-1960s, India's relations with the USA, IMF, and World Bank were strained after an attempt by these institutions to exert ‘leverage’ over Indian economic policies was exposed to parliamentary debate and the scrutiny of a free press. By the late 1970s, the GOI charted a new course in its interaction with the IMF. In 1981, India was awarded the largest IMF loan to a developing country up to that time. This article will evaluate India's economic reform strategy in the early 1980s and explain the development of the concept of ‘homegrown conditionality’ within the GOI.     

Global Health Diplomacy as a Tool of Peace

There is no question that peace and health are inextricably linked. War affects human health through the direct violence of military arms and through the structural violence that leads to major interruptions of the socio-economic systems people use to address their health needs. Those disruptions are compounded by natural disasters and manifold vulnerabilities that force countries to divert economic resources from health services. Clearly war and violence are a public health concern. We argue here that not only can health be a bridge to peace, but as well, what the world is witnessing now is the emergence and growth of health diplomacy which can potentially become a robust medium for strengthening that nexus between health and peace.