Review of Women, men, and the psychology of power.

Reviews the book, Women, Men, and the Psychology of Power by Hilary M. Lips (1981). This book is therefore a welcome addition to the literature as it is an integration of gender differences on the one issue of power: it is totally devoted to the analysis of the multiplicity of factors involved in sex differences regarding the achievement of power. Dr. Lips presents her ideas from a dual perspective, that of a feminist and that of a social psychologist. Looking at the issue of power from the first point of view, she not only refers to the fact that women have fewer avenues to power than men do, but she also discusses the ways women cooperate to maintain their subordinate position. At the same time she elucidates the consequences for both sexes as women become more powerful. From the second viewpoint, she maintains that some of the observable differences in personality characteristics between females and males may be a function of structural variables, such as differential power bases, rather than stable inherited traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)