Occasionally power will be exercised for its own sake, without any object. Sometimes the object of an exercise of one type of power is to increase other one's ability to exercise other types of power. Boulding notes however that it is not merely power which may be corrupting, but also influence, and even powerlessness. Boulding argues that the primary source of pathology is an unrealistic image of one's power, and suggests possible causes of such unrealistic images. Each type of power has its own pathological forms.
Civil wars have a high potential to become pathological.
Conflicts, which are always at root about distributions of power, can become pathological when third-parties who do not bear the costs of the conflict benefit from it. The next four chapters examine the destructive, economic and integrative types of personal power. Personal power refers to the power wielded by an individual. Generally destructive power is the easiest form of power for an individual to use. Because it is the easiest to use, people often exercise destructive power to counter their feelings of powerless.