Hierarchical integration of agency and communion: a study of influential moral figures.

The purpose of this research is to (a) identify which of recent history's influential figures did and which did not personify moral excellence, and (b) to examine the motives that drove these individuals along such divergent paths. In Study 1, 102 social scientists evaluated the moral qualities of influential figures from Time Magazine's lists. In Study 2, we selected the 15 top ranking of these figures to comprise a moral exemplar group and the bottom 15 to comprise a comparison group of similarly influential people. We measured the motivational aspects of their person- ality (agency and communion) by content-analyzing extant speeches and interviews. Moral exemplars exhibited the hierarchical integration of agency and communion by treating agentic motives as a means to an end of communal motives. Comparison subjects, by contrast, personified unmiti- gated agency by treating motives of agency as both a means to an end and an end unto itself. These results imply that both the strength and structure of a person's motives account for moral behavior. Social influence entails both privilege and responsibility. Those in positions of leadership have the privilege of making decisions on behalf of others. Presumably, all who wield such influence couple this prerogative with a sense of responsibility to act in the best interests of those who fall under their purview. However, history has demon- strated that not all influential figures are like this. Attaining positions of influence have often been individuals who were so concerned with gaining and maintaining power that they showed little concern for