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French and Raven's model matters because it breaks 'power' or 'influence' down into distinct sources, and identifying which source is actually at work explains why an instruction is followed, or ignored. They described five original bases of social power, later extended to six, each rooted in a different reason people comply with another person's influence. For example, imagine a consultant whose instructions are followed partly because of their senior position (legitimate power) and partly because juniors genuinely respect their clinical judgement (expert power), the same behaviour, obeying an instruction, can rest on entirely different underlying power sources.

Reward power rests on the ability to give something desired. Coercive power rests on the ability to punish or withhold something wanted. Legitimate power rests on a recognised position or role, such as 'consultant' or 'manager'. Referent power rests on identification with or admiration for the person. Expert power rests on recognised knowledge or skill. Informational power, added later, rests on access to or control of needed information. Take a junior colleague who follows a senior nurse's advice mainly because they personally admire her, that is referent power, distinct from following the same advice purely because of her job title. Naming which base of power is operating helps explain compliance that persists, or collapses, once that specific source of power is removed, e.g. expert-based influence often outlasts a change in job title, whereas purely legitimate power does not.

• French and Raven's original account described five bases of social power. Which base was added to the framework in later work?
• A ward manager relies mainly on the threat of disciplinary action to secure compliance. Which consequence for staff behaviour does the framework predict?
• A new consultant has formal authority but finds staff follow a long-serving nurse's guidance instead. Which pair of power bases best explains the nurse's influence?
• Which base of social power depends least on the influencer's own characteristics and most on the persuasiveness of the message itself?

• Legitimate power, rests on formal position or role, unlike expert power, which rests on recognised knowledge or skill regardless of position.
• Reward power, ability to give something desired, whereas coercive power is the ability to punish or withhold something wanted.
• Referent power, rests on personal admiration or identification, rather than informational power, which rests on control of needed information.

• Genuine private acceptance is not produced by threat.
• Threat tends to reduce rather than increase admiration.
• That base was one of the original five described.
• Threat-based cultures tend to suppress open information sharing.
• Neither formal position nor threat explains her informal influence.

• Name the learning, social or research principle being tested before reading the options.
• Identify the antecedent, behaviour, consequence or cognitive process in the vignette.
• Compare the direction of effect with the nearest competing principle.
• Apply the same rule to a new example to confirm that the answer transfers.