Going sane with the power

From frequent poster Entropic Angel:

Fellow gaming types (most of my friends list, I guess) I have a question. If your players play characters with quite a high amount of power and influence do their characters act with more restraint, morality and thought than they would do otherwise?

My answer would be “sometimes”. It would discourage the lashing out that players sometimes entertain with “nobody” PCs, and it gives them a connection to the setting and something to lose. Of course, sometimes players given power will want to simply use it...