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Dominance hierarchy: Difference between revisions
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In one study, low status individuals accommodated their voices to the voice pitch of their higher status partners in an experiment.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272517738215</ref> Similar to status differences in smiling, this provides evidence that lower status individuals use signals of appeasement to avoid conflict and accept their position in the hierarchy. | In one study, low status individuals accommodated their voices to the voice pitch of their higher status partners in an experiment.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272517738215</ref> Similar to status differences in smiling, this provides evidence that lower status individuals use signals of appeasement to avoid conflict and accept their position in the hierarchy. | ||
=== Smiling === | |||
Even though showing teeth is a signal of threat in most animals, in various higher primates including humans, the display of teeth with certain additional facial expressions (lifted corners of the mouth in case of humans) has evolved to ''negate'' the signal of threat,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUvpzIN7p1k</ref> indicating absence of threat and by extension, it signals positive emotion, benevolence, submission, compliance, appeasement etc. It also may have evolved as necessity for babies to signal all is good.<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Brain-Hidden-Motives-Everyday/dp/0190495995</ref> | |||
Low status individuals smile more, e.g. people often smile in cases of excuses and embarrassment as signal of appeasement.<ref>Ekman, P.& Keltner, D (1997). The social function of "smile" and "laughter": Variations across primate species and societies. In U. C. Segerstrale and P. Molnar (Eds), Nonverbal communication: Where nature meets culture, (pp. 27-46). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.</ref> | |||
Dominant individuals smile less, perhaps to maintain the threat of their dominance and because it acts as a costly signal of their status in that they do not need to fear being judged not needing to signal compliance. | |||
Higher levels of testosterone are associated with dominant behavior and less smiling.<ref>Dabbs, J. M. (1997). Testosterone, smiling, and facial appearance.Journal of NonverbalBehavior,Vol.21,pp.45-55</ref> Also, smaller (less dominant) football players displayed more smiling than larger (more dominant) football players (F(1.41, 38.10) = 111.80, partial η² = .81).<ref>http://doi.org/10.1177/147470491201000301</ref> | |||
Men smile less than women because men have higher status and women are more low status, agreeable and compliant, presumably related to women's more child-like, shorter and weaker stature.<ref>LaFrance, M., Hecht, M. A.,andLevy Paluck, E. (2003). The contingentsmile: A meta-analysis of sexdifferences in smiling.PsychologicalBulletin,Vol.129,pp.305–334</ref> In social encounters women smile 87%, but men only in 67% of the time. | |||
In portrait photographs from high school and university yearbooks, women do not smile 8% of the time, but men do not smile 41% of the time.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00287672</ref> | |||
=== Laughing === | === Laughing === | ||
Laughing seems to have multiple functions | Laughing seems to have multiple functions most of which overlap with the function of smiling. Laughing is used to signal absence of threat. Absence of threat can mean that oneself is not a threat, i.e. a low status signal. | ||
Laughing can act as a signal of admitting someone more (intellectual) status, e.g. by laughing about people's jokes. People are very conservative about whose jokes they laugh about because admitting someone higher status means lowering one's own [[reproductive success]]. | Laughing can act as a signal of admitting someone more (intellectual) status, e.g. by laughing about people's jokes. People are very conservative about whose jokes they laugh about because admitting someone higher status means lowering one's own [[reproductive success]]. | ||