BACKGROUND: Societal development has traditionally been characterized as a progression from a steep to a relatively flat social hierarchy. However, this model fails to account for the societal progress observed in Confucian Asia. Over the last dozen years, Confucian Asia has gone through remarkable societal progress while remaining highly hierarchical. In this paper, we aim to address this puzzle from a psychological perspective by examining how individuals' perception of powerholders (as opportunists vs. responsibility holders) in their society is related to their preferences for societal development. METHODS: We conducted two correlational studies to investigate this relationship. In Study 1, participants from three cultural regions, namely Hong Kong (n = 87), Poland (n = 109), and the USA (n = 107), were examined, while Study 2 was conducted using a representative sample from the United States (n = 978). RESULTS: Our data indicated that perceiving the powerholders as exploiting opportunities is positively connected to a greater endorsement of social modernization aims (such as the improvement of quality of life and egalitarianism), whereas perceiving the powerholders as fulfilling responsibilities is positively connected to a stronger preference for conventional development aims (including military, traditions, and religious values). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the negative perception of powerholders is tied to desires for modernization, whereas the positive perception of powerholders is related to the hierarchical status quo. Our results shed light on the recent Confucian pathway of societal development, which has allowed for the preservation of a steep societal hierarchy throughout modernization. Further culturally sensitive investigations are needed to explore the psychological foundations of societal development processes.