Biologist Fernando Reinach wrote about how power influences human behavior. He explained that in any relationship, the person with more resources has more power. This can lead to positive outcomes, like favors, but also negative ones, such as coercion and discrimination. While scientists have long known that power affects behavior, no one had measured it directly until now.
A new study examined power differences in the U.S. Army’s emergency healthcare system, where both doctors and patients were military members with different ranks. Since patients were randomly assigned to doctors, they couldn’t choose who treated them. Researchers analyzed over 1.5 million doctor-patient interactions and measured power differences based on rank. If the doctor and patient had the same rank, their power was equal. If the patient outranked the doctor, they had more power, while if the doctor was higher-ranked, they held more authority.
The study found that doctors put in more effort when treating higher-ranking patients. These patients were more likely to receive follow-up appointments and had better health outcomes. This suggests that power influences healthcare quality, even in a structured system like the military. Ideally, doctors should treat everyone equally, but in reality, power imbalances shape medical decisions. Higher-ranking patients might unknowingly take resources away from lower-ranking ones. This research highlights a serious issue: healthcare inequality exists even in highly regulated environments. In civilian life, where social and economic gaps are often wider, the problem could be even worse. While shared decision-making between doctors and patients is a great goal, power differences still play a role. Until these imbalances are addressed, some people will always receive better healthcare than others.
