Space for power: feeling powerful over others’ behavior affects peri-personal space representation

We investigated whether and how social power affects the representation of peri-personal space (PPS). We applied a multisensory interaction task to assess PPS representation and the Personal Sense of Power Scale to assess participants’ feelings of power over others’ behaviors and over others’ opinions. In Study 1, we probed PPS representation in a virtual social context. Participants with a higher sense of power showed a less defined differentiation between the close and far space as compared to participants with a lower sense of power. This effect was replicated in Study 2 when participants performed the task in a non-social context (with no person in the scene), but only after they were reminded of an episode of power. Thus, social power—the perception of power over others’ behavior—affects the multisensory representation of the self in space by blurring the differentiation between one’s own PPS and the space of others. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00221-023-06719-1.