Power
Power as a Schwartz value refers to the motivational goal of social status, prestige, and control over people and resources. Its motivational core is not domination for its own sake, but the desire for a position in which one has influence, standing, and the capacity to determine outcomes — for oneself and potentially for others.
Position in the Circumplex
Power belongs to the Self-Enhancement cluster alongside Achievement. Both values serve self-interest through social positioning — Achievement through demonstrated competence, Power through status and control.
Adjacent: Achievement (the two Self-Enhancement values; both emphasize relative superiority in social contexts). Power sits at the outer edge of Self-Enhancement, meaning it tends to conflict more strongly with opposing values than Achievement does.
Opposing: Universalism and Benevolence. The pursuit of status, control, and relative dominance conflicts directly with the concern for equality, welfare, and care for others that Universalism and Benevolence represent. Among all pairwise value conflicts in the circumplex, Power-Universalism is one of the most pronounced.
High Priority
People who prioritize Power are motivated by the acquisition and maintenance of influence, standing, and the capacity to determine outcomes. In practice, this looks quite different depending on the domain:
In work, Power-dominant people are drawn to positions of authority, leadership, and control — not necessarily to abuse those positions, but because having influence over outcomes is intrinsically motivating. Being in a position without meaningful authority generates frustration disproportionate to any other practical limitations of that position.
In social contexts, Power-dominant people are attentive to status dynamics — who has influence, who defers to whom, where they stand in the social hierarchy of a group. This is often not cynical; it reflects a genuine perception of social reality that others with lower Power priority may be less attuned to.
Low Priority
Low Power priority means that social status and control are not primary motivational goals. A person with lower Power priority can hold authority effectively without being driven by it — they use influence as a tool for other ends (getting things done, helping others) rather than seeking it as an end in itself.
The Characteristic Tension
Power's most significant internal tension is with Benevolence and Universalism — the values it most directly opposes. A person who scores relatively high on both Power and Universalism has a structurally unusual value profile: the desire for influence and status alongside genuine concern for equality and others' welfare. These can coexist — a person can want power in order to advance universalist goals — but the tension between them is real and tends to surface in specific decisions about whether to prioritize one's own position or others' welfare.
In Relation to Other Systems
Power is associated with lower Big Five Agreeableness (particularly the Trust and Compliance facets) and shows a modest positive correlation with Extraversion (particularly Assertiveness). In the Enneagram, Type 8's core motivation — strength, control, avoiding vulnerability — has the most overlap with Power priority, though Power as a value can be expressed across many type configurations.