Transcript 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