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Nonverbal Indicators of Dominance

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Fighting ability; Formidability

Definition

Dominance in large part is having power or influence over others. An important part of negotiating access to resources, be it food or mates, throughout the animal kingdom and ancestral humans is/has been achieved through physical force, particularly between males. For example, men who repeatedly win fights and contests against other men (intrasexual selection) are often revered in society, and their status within the group is elevated (Hill and Hurtado 1996). This functions as a deterrent to potential competitors from challenge and is known as physical dominance, which will be the focus of this section.

Introduction

The ability to make accurate assessments of physical dominance in species with aggressive social interactions is of particular importance as it can ultimately fall within the realm of natural selection. People who have the potential to inflict serious or even fatal physical harm is a strong selective force and it makes...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 8ST, UK

    Kristofor McCarty

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  1. Kristofor McCarty
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Correspondence to Kristofor McCarty .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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McCarty, K. (2016). Nonverbal Indicators of Dominance. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1415-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1415-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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