Read the Point and Counterpoint arguments and answer thequestion listed below:

Which argument do you agree with (point orcounterpoint)? Explain your reasoning. One page

Point

Not everything we secretly want we admit to wanting. Money isone example. One psychologist found that few people would admit towanting money, but they thought everyone else wanted it. They werehalf right - everyone wants money. And everyone wants power.

Harvard psychologist David McClelland was justifiably famous forhis study of underlying motives. McClelland would measure people'smotivation for power from his analysis of how people describedpictures (called the Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT). Whydidn't he simply ask people how much they wanted power? Because hebelieved that many more people really wanted power than wouldadmit, or even consciously realize. And that is exactly what hefound.

Why do we want power? Because it is good for us. It gives usmore control over our own lives. It gives us more freedom to do aswe wish. There are few things worse in life than feeling helpless,and few better than feeling in charge of your destiny.

Take Steve Cohen, founder of SAC Capital Advisors and the mostpowerful man on Wall Street. He buys Picassos, he lives in amansion, he has white-gloved butlers, he travels the world firstclass. People will do almost anything to please him, or to even getnear him. One writer notes, \"Inside his offices, vast fortunes arewon and lost. Careers are made and unmade. Type A egos are inflatedand crushed, sometimes in the space of hours.\" All of this is badfor Steve Cohen, how?

Research shows that people with power and status command morerespect from others, have higher self-esteem (no surprise there),and enjoy better health than those of less stature.

Usually, people who tell you power doesn't matter are those whohave no hope of getting it. Being jealous, like wanting power, isone of those people just won't admit to.

Counterpoint

Of course it is true that some people desire power, and oftenbehave ruthlessly to get it. For most of us, however, power is nothigh on our list of priorities, and for some people, power isactually undesirable.

Research shows that most individuals feel uncomfortable whenplaced in powerful positions. One study asked individuals, beforethey began work in a four-person team, to \"rank, from 1 (highest)to 4 (lowest), in terms of status and influence within the group,would you like to achieve.\" You know what? Only about one-third (34percent) of participants chose the highest rank. In a second study,researchers studied employees participating in Amazon's MechanicalTurk online service. They found, when employees were asked abouttheir reasons for belonging to the three groups (which would be aworkplace, a volunteer group, a congregation, etc.) that were mostimportant in their life, that the main reason people want power isto earn respect. If they can get respect without gaining power,that is what most preferred. In a third study, the authors foundthat individuals preferred power only when they had high ability -in other words, where their influence helped their groups.

This interesting research suggests that we often confuse thedesire for power with other things—like the desire to be respectedand to help our groups and organizations succeed. In these cases,power is something most of us seek for more benevolent ends—andonly in cases when we think the power does good.

Another study found that the majority of people want respectfrom their peers, not power. Cameron Anderson, the author of thisresearch, sums it up nicely: \"You don't have to be rich to behappy, but instead be a valuable contributing member to yourgroups,\" he comments. \"What makes a person high in status in agroup is being engaged, generous with others, and makingself-sacrifices for the greater good.\"

Oh, and about Stevie Cohen...you realize that he is beinginvestigated by the SEC? The SEC investigator: Preet Bharara, thesame one who got Rajat Gupta.

Sources: B. Burrough and B. McLean, \"The Hunt for Steve Cohen,\"Vanity Fair (June 2013), downloaded May 13, 2013, fromhttp://www.vanityfair.com/; C. Anderson, R. Willer, G. J. Kilduff,and C. E. Brown, \"The Origins of Deference: When Do People PreferLower Status?\" Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology 102 (2012), pp. 1077--1088; C. Anderson, M. WKraus, A. D. Galinsky, and D. Keltner, \"The Local-Ladder Effect:Social Status and Subjective Well-Being,\" PsychologicalScience 23(7), 2012, pp. 764--771; and S. Kennelly, \"HappinessIs About Respect, Not Riches,\" Greater Good (July 13, 2012),downloaded May 4, 2013, fromhttp://greatergood.berkeley.edu/