An Ethological Analysis of Social Agonism and Dominance Relations among Preschool Children

Strayer, F. F.; Strayer, Janet

doi:10.2307/1128434

Cited by 256 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…c Bernstein (1970Bernstein ( , 1981Fournier (2009);Hinde (1974);Jolly (1972);Maynard Smith (1974); Maynard Smith & Price (1973);Mazur (1985); Savin-Williams (1976); Strayer et al (1975); Strayer & Strayer (1976); E. O. Wilson (1975).…”

Section: Differentiating Dominance and Prestige From Other Conceptualmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two ways to the top: Evidence that dominance and prestige are distinct yet viable avenues to social rank and influence.

Cheng

Tracy

Foulsham

et al. 2013

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

859

1,095

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The pursuit of social rank is a recurrent and pervasive challenge faced by individuals in all human societies. Yet, the precise means through which individuals compete for social standing remains unclear. In 2 studies, we investigated the impact of 2 fundamental strategies-Dominance (the use of force and intimidation to induce fear) and Prestige (the sharing of expertise or know-how to gain respect)-on the attainment of social rank, which we conceptualized as the acquisition of (a) perceived influence over others (Study 1), (b) actual influence over others' behaviors (Study 1), and (c) others' visual attention (Study 2). Study 1 examined the process of hierarchy formation among a group of previously unacquainted individuals, who provided round-robin judgments of each other after completing a group task. Results indicated that the adoption of either a Dominance or Prestige strategy promoted perceptions of greater influence, by both group members and outside observers, and higher levels of actual influence, based on a behavioral measure. These effects were not driven by popularity; in fact, those who adopted a Prestige strategy were viewed as likable, whereas those who adopted a Dominance strategy were not well liked. In Study 2, participants viewed brief video clips of group interactions from Study 1 while their gaze was monitored with an eye tracker. Dominant and Prestigious targets each received greater visual attention than targets low on either dimension. Together, these findings demonstrate that Dominance and Prestige are distinct yet viable strategies for ascending the social hierarchy, consistent with evolutionary theory.

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Section: Differentiating Dominance and Prestige From Other Conceptualmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two ways to the top: Evidence that dominance and prestige are distinct yet viable avenues to social rank and influence.

Cheng

Tracy

Foulsham

et al. 2013

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

859

1,095

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In preschool dyadic resource conflicts, compared with boys, girls use less physical aggression and submit more. A few girls with high status in the class however refused to back down [130,131]. Likewise, when the movie viewer study was repeated with 4-to 5-year-old children in same-sex groups of four [132], girls' and boys' groups gained equal viewing time.…”

Section: (Iii) Compete Overtly Only If High Ranked In the Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of human female competition: allies and adversaries

Benenson

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

116

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Throughout their lives, women provide for their own and their children's and grandchildren's needs and thus must minimize their risk of incurring physical harm. Alliances with individuals who will assist them in attaining these goals increase their probability of survival and reproductive success. High status in the community enhances access to physical resources and valuable allies. Kin, a mate, and affines share a mother's genetic interests, whereas unrelated women constitute primary competitors. From early childhood onwards, girls compete using strategies that minimize the risk of retaliation and reduce the strength of other girls. Girls' competitive strategies include avoiding direct interference with another girl's goals, disguising competition, competing overtly only from a position of high status in the community, enforcing equality within the female community and socially excluding other girls.

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“…The motivation for the focal follows was twofold: first, to check that the event sampling of the children's verbal reports was not biased toward the most audible or attention-grabbing children, and second, to investigate the dominance hierarchy within the classroom. A common method for analyzing the dominance hierarchies of toddlers is to code for incidences of direct aggression (e.g., Strayer & Strayer, 1976). However, examples of direct aggression become much less frequent by age 4 (Hawley, 1999) and were rarely observed in Preschool A; therefore, instead we analyzed several types of social interaction that included a clear element of direction of one child's behavior by another (cf.…”

Section: Focal Follows and Dominance Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s Tattling: The Reporting of Everyday Norm Violations in Preschool Settings

2010

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Tattling, defined as the reporting to a second party of norm violations committed by a third party, is a frequent but little-studied activity among young children. Participant observation and quantitative sampling are used to provide a detailed characterization of tattling in 2 preschools (initial mean age = 4.08 years, N = 40). In these populations, tattling represents the majority of talk about peers' behavior to third parties. It is usually truthful, it rarely refers to transgressions committed against other individuals, it is not often ignored by adults, it is performed more frequently by dominant children, and it correlates with teacher reports of relational aggression. These exploratory results suggest several new avenues of research into children's developing understanding of social norms.

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An Ethological Analysis of Social Agonism and Dominance Relations among Preschool Children

Cited by 256 publications

References 22 publications

Two ways to the top: Evidence that dominance and prestige are distinct yet viable avenues to social rank and influence.

Two ways to the top: Evidence that dominance and prestige are distinct yet viable avenues to social rank and influence.

The development of human female competition: allies and adversaries

Children’s Tattling: The Reporting of Everyday Norm Violations in Preschool Settings

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