I began this work with two main objectives: theoretically, to determine whether the scope of exchange theory could be extended to include coercive power, and empirically, to compare the effects of reward power and coercive power on social exchange. Chapter 10 reviewed the results of the first effort, by summarizing the theory of coercive exchange developed in the project and evaluating its implications for social exchange theory.

This chapter evaluates the empirical contributions of the project. Here, I review the major substantive findings of the research, examine their implications for social relationships, and consider their relevance for other structures, forms, and conditions of exchange.

The core findings

Six core findings summarize the main conclusions about coercive power in social exchange. Many of these findings are not only nonintuitive, but directly contrary to common beliefs about the use and effectiveness of coercion.

First, coercion is not structurally induced by a coercive power advantage, but purposively enacted as a strategy to increase rewards. While a reward power advantage directly induces the use of that power, actors who use coercion are motivated, instead, by structural conditions that make acquiring rewards problematic. Their use of punishment is not an unintended side effect of other actions or other exchanges. Rather, it is a purposive effort to change a partner's behavior, by creating contingencies that produce negative consequences for the partner's failure to reward them.