Download Dominance

The Evolution of
Dominance, Status, and
Prestige
Dominance Hierarchies (1)
Form at extremely rapid rates
 Are a group consequence of individual
actions
 Are transitive (i.e., A > B > C) in their
simplest form
 Dynamic

Dominance Hierarchies (2)
Related to reproductive and nonreproductive
benefits
 “Duke of Marlborough” effect
 Epigamic and intrasexual paths
 Not explicitly related to size in primate
groups

Sex Differences in Dominance


Since male reproductive variance is greater,
we should expect sexual access to increase
 High dominance increases sexual access to
high quality females (Betzig 1993; Perusse,
1993)
Male dominance is typically egoistic while
female dominance is prosocial
Theories of Dominance
Dominance theory
 Intellectual arms race
 Related to Machiavellian Intelligence and
Theory of Mind concepts
 Social-Attention Holding theory
 Similar to RHP concept
 Rank is conferred by positive attention held
by an individual

Testosterone and Dominance


The relationship between T and dominance is
still unclear
 Generally thought to be reciprocal
 Questions remain as to the “directness” of
the relationship (e.g., to motivate status
striving, aggression, etc.?)
T changes prior to and post-competition
among males, and increases in betweencoalition competition
Female Facial Preferences

Masculinized faces signal dominance and
immunocompetency, whereas feminized ones
signal parental investment
 Females prefer slightly feminized faces
 However, over the menstrual cycle, the
preferences change
 Masculinized faces preferred when
conception risk is high (and for STM)
Perrett et al, 1998; Penton-Voak et al, 1999
Focus: Female Mountain Goats

According to life history theory, reproductive
effort increases as reproductive value
decreases
 As expected, age predicts kid production
 Moreover, social rank also predicts kid
production
 Age and rank do not predict kid survival,
though
Côté & Festa-Bianchet (2001)
Cell Phones as Lekking Devices



Leks (Swedish for party) refer to the
gathering of one sex to display epigamic
sexual traits to members of the opposite sex
Men at a bar are more likely to display their
cell phones than are women
The proportion of cell phone displays by men
increases as the number of men increases,
but not the number of women
Lycett & Dunbar (2000)
Hierarchy in the Forest


Although hierarchies occur quite readily in
most other species, humans are strikingly –
though not perfectly – egalitarian
Boehm (1999) argues that this is due to
mechanics of multilevel selection
 Weakening of within-group hierarchies
 Strengthening of between-group
differences
The Wrap-Up
Characteristics of dominance hierarchies
 Sex differences in dominance behaviours
 Theories of dominance
 Testosterone and dominance
 Special cases (facial attractiveness, rank,
lekking)
 Egalitarianism and multilevel seleciton

Things to Come

Evolutionary forensic psychology
 Psychopathy
 Pedophilia
 Homicide