Chapter 12: Status, Prestige and Social Dominance Flashcards
How do status Hierarchies emerge in Crickets?
If a cricket wins a lot of fights, it becomes more aggressive. If it loses, it will become
submissive. Over time a dominance hierarchy emerges. Male crickets who win a fight are more
likely to seek sex from female crickets.
Physiological changes seen in Crayfish during the emergence of hierarchies
Neurons in dominant crayfish were excited to serotonin. These same neurons are inhibited in subordinate crayfish. This is the first time a social phenomenon has been linked to a specific
change at an identified synapse.
when subordinate crayfish started to win fights their neurons started to respond
in an excited fashion to serotonin. When dominant crayfish started to lose fights their neurons still responded in an excited fashion to serotonin.
T/F: Hiearchies are static
false. they can be challenged
why did the dominance striving mechanism in males develop?
because dominant males saw an increase in sexual access to female mates
Elevated dominance and status can give males sexual access along 2 paths
1) dominant men are preferred by women
2) Intrasexual domination (poaching)
During a pairing of a high dominant female and a low dominant male, why did the low dominant male still become leader?
women tend to be less consumed by personal gain and opt to express their dominance for group-oriented goals.
2 Key Features of the Dominance Theory (Cumins)
1) humans have evolved domain-specific strategies for social reasoning about dominance hierarchies
(permissions, obligations)
2) These domain-specific strategies will emerge prior to, and separate from, other reasoning strategies.
What is the service-for-prestige theory
the idea that leaders emerge because they provide key services to followers in the form of organizational skills intelligence wisdom and knowledge. These leader-provided serves benefit the followers.
the service-for-prestige theory is based on :
reciprocal altruism.
T/F: men scoring high on social dominance admit having more affairs
TRUE.
2 most robust sex differences in the preschool years
1) rough and tumble play in boys emerge, whereas girls play cooperative games “house”
2) boys use more egotistic languages and are not readily influenced by girls. Girls use language as a more socially binding process
Why should social dominance orientation be higher in men
because having a higher SDO would lead to ancestral men having greater control of and access to women. In sum, men appear to score higher on alttitudes endorsing getting ahead.
What type of dominant acts do women rank more desirable? do men?
women tend to rate PROSOCIAL DOMINANCE acts as more socially desirable.
Men more than women tended to rate EGOISTIC dominant acts as more socially desirable. ( where they influence others for the direct personal benefit)
Status competition among men tend to be most intense when they involve men of equal status. Does this occur for women?
It does not occur in women. Men tend to engage in riskier behavior when they are being observed by others (who are similar in status)
Deontic reasoning
emerges in a young child’s life. Reasoning about what a person is permitted, obligated or forbidden to do.
Opposite of deontic reasoning
indicative reasoning: reasoning about what is true or false
for deontic rules, what do people seek out? for indicative rules, what do people seek out?
for deontic rules, people seek out rule violaters.
for indicative rules, people look for instances that conform to the rule.
what is social attention holding theory?
emphasizes the emotive components of dominance.
His theory is based on the
resource-holding potential from work in nonhumans. RHP contends that animals
evaluate themselves relative to other animals based on their relative strengths and weaknesses.
contends that humans use this strategy in social situations (social attention-holding potential, SAHP). SAHP
suggests that humans compete with each other to be attended to, and valued by others, in the group.
According to social attention holding theory, people who got a lot of quality attention:
rise to status. Going up in status produces increases in mood and increases in helping behavior towards others.
according to social attention holding theoyr, going up in rank produces ___ and an increase in ____.
according to social attention holding theoyr, going up in rank produces ELATION and an increase in HELPING
People who experience a rise in status are more likely to behave in a friendly manner.
5 emotions associated with a loss of status
1) social anxiety
2) depression
3) envy
4) rage
5) shame
what do men do to other men who are lower in dominance than they are
men lower their voices and stand taller when they believe that they are addressing another man.
correlation between walking speed and dominance? Sex differences?
more dominant men walk faster but this correlation is not seen in women
dominant or less dominant men smile more
less dominant men smile more
how do we perceive the height of people based on our perception of their power?
we think they are taller if they are higher ranking. Ex/ introducing the same person as a professor vs a student caused different audiences to rank the man taller as a professor.
effects of testosterone on dominance
testosterone is correlated with dominance. T-injected cows rose through the pecking order.
What happens to testosterone levels in athletes when they win
winners of athletic contests show a rise in T for up to two hours after the match. Whereas the losers show a decrease in T.
relationship between T levels and cortisol
men with higher T levels had lower cortisol
relationship between T levels in women and dominance
heightened T levels in women made them perceive that they were higher in power but their peers assessed them lower than what they thought they were.
which neurotransmitter joins testosterone as one of the brain chemicals responsible for mediating one’s position in the status hierarchy?
serotonin
sociometer theory
the hypothesis that SELF ESTEEM functions as a subjective indicator of other people’s evaluations.
The actual reduction in self confidence to facilitate acting in a submissive subordinate manner
Deceiving down
2 general strategies of getting ahead in status and dominance hierarchies
1) self enhancement
2) promote the downfall of others.