Search

Animals of different social status exhibit variation in aggression, territorial and reproductive behavior as well as activity patterns, feeding, drinking and status signaling. This behavioral and physiological plasticity is coordinated by underlying changes in brain gene transcription. Using Tag-based RNA sequencing (Tag-seq), we explore RNA transcriptomes from the medial preoptic area (mPOA) and ventral hypothalamus (vHYP) of male mice of different social ranks in a dominance hierarchy and detect candidate genes and cellular pathways that underlie status-related plasticity. Within the mPOA, oxytocin (Oxt) and vasopressin (Avp) are more highly expressed in subdominant mice compared to other ranks, while nitric oxide synthase (Nos1) has lower expression in subdominant mice. Within the vHYP, we find that both orexigenic and anorexigenic genes involved in feeding behavior, including agouti-related peptide (Agrp), neuropeptide-Y (Npy), galanin (Gal), proopiomelanocortin (Pomc), and Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein prepropeptide (Cartpt), are less expressed in dominant animals compared to more subordinate ranks. We suggest that this may represent a reshaping of feeding circuits in dominant compared to subdominant and subordinate animals. Furthermore, we determine several genes that are positively and negatively associated with the level of despotism (aggression) in dominant males. Ultimately, we identify hypothalamic genes controlling feeding and social behaviors that are differentially transcribed across animals of varying social status. These changes in brain transcriptomics likely support phenotypic variation that enable animals to adapt to their current social status., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Social subordination increases risk for psychiatric disorders, while dominance increases resilience to these disorders. Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin (5HT) reuptake inhibitor whose actions are mediated in part by the 5HT1A receptor (5HT1AR), has sex- and social status-specific effects on socioemotional behavior and aggressive behavior. However, the impact of social status on these sex-specific effects remains unclear. The current study evaluated the impact of acute fluoxetine treatment and social status on dominance-related behaviors in female and male hamsters, and the impact of chronic fluoxetine treatment on socioemotional behavior and 5HT1AR binding potential (5HT1AR BP ) in female rhesus macaques. We hypothesized that sex differences in the effects of fluoxetine on aggression in hamsters would be diminished in dominant and enhanced in subordinate males and that aggression in female hamsters would be enhanced in dominants and diminished in subordinates. In female rhesus macaques, we hypothesized that chronic fluoxetine would alter socioemotional behaviors and site-specific 5HT1AR BP in a status-dependent manner. Male (n = 46) and female (n = 56) hamsters were paired with conspecifics for three days to establish social rank. Hamsters received a single dose of 20 mg/kg fluoxetine or vehicle two-hours prior to a test with a non-aggressive intruder. Female rhesus monkeys (n = 14) housed were administered fluoxetine (2.8 mg/kg/day) or vehicle injections chronically for 14-days, separated by a three-week washout period. On Day 15, positron emission tomography neuroimaging for 5HT1AR BP was conducted. Fluoxetine treatment decreased aggression in subordinate female monkeys and subordinate female hamsters but not in dominant females of either species. Fluoxetine decreased aggression in dominant but not in subordinate male hamsters. Fluoxetine also reduced and increased prefrontal 5HT1AR BP in dominant and subordinate females, respectively. Taken together, these results provide cross-species evidence that social status and sex impact how increased 5HT modulates agonistic behavior., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Variation in social status predicts molecular, physiological and life-history outcomes across a broad range of species, including our own. Experimental studies indicate that some of these relationships persist even when the physical environment is held constant. Here, we draw on datasets from one such study-experimental manipulation of dominance rank in captive female rhesus macaques-to investigate how social status shapes the lived experience of these animals to alter gene regulation, glucocorticoid physiology and mitochondrial DNA phenotypes. We focus specifically on dominance rank-associated dimensions of the social environment, including both competitive and affiliative interactions. Our results show that simple summaries of rank-associated behavioural interactions are often better predictors of molecular and physiological outcomes than dominance rank itself. However, while measures of immune function are best explained by agonism rates, glucocorticoid-related phenotypes tend to be more closely linked to affiliative behaviour. We conclude that dominance rank serves as a useful summary for investigating social environmental effects on downstream outcomes. Nevertheless, the behavioural interactions that define an individual's daily experiences reveal the proximate drivers of social status-related differences and are especially relevant for understanding why individuals who share the same social status sometimes appear physiologically distinct. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.

The male beard is one of the most visually salient and sexually dimorphic traits and a hypothesized potential marker of other traits, such as dominance, masculinity, social status, and self-confidence. However, as men can easily alter their facial hair, beards may provide unreliable information about the beard owner's characteristics. Here, we examined whether beards are honest signals of biological (testosterone levels) and psychological (self-reported dominance) traits. Young (M = 21.29, SD = 1.54) and healthy men (N = 97) participated in the study. Their beards were measured directly (using digital calipers) and by self-report. Participants provided saliva samples before and after acute exercise (to assess their testosterone and cortisol levels) and reported their dominance on a 5-item scale. The results showed that beard length (directly measured and self-reported) was not related to testosterone levels or dominance; thus, no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that beards are honest (or dishonest) signals of the beard owners' testosterone levels and dominance., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

ABSTRACT In ecological contexts natural selection might favor individuals with a larger body mass to monopolize resources; however, there is wide variation in body mass within populations and potential factors. In this study, we evaluated whether fruit production limits body mass in one group of Sapajus apella, its effects on behavior, and whether there is a relationship between social status and body mass. We recorded activity patterns using focal follows (20 min), body mass (using a modified Ohaus scale), and community wide fruit production estimates (from 60 fruit traps). Body mass remained relatively stable during periods of food scarcity, but in periods of abundance most individuals gained weight, as indicated by their relative growth rates (RGR). Subordinate subadults showed the highest RGR, as expected by their age. In periods of high fruit production activities as traveling, grooming, and playing were more frequent than during fruit scarcity, suggesting energy maximization and potential energetic constraints. We found differences in behavior within the group, as the alpha male was observed feeding more frequently (and for longer periods of time), was more aggressive (e.g., feeding trees), and received more grooming than other individuals. In addition, the alpha male was 60% heavier than the group's average body mass. Our study supports the hypothesis that body weight gain is related to fruit abundance and that body size is associated with social dominance; however, large individuals (both males and females) seem to incur in high metabolic or reproductive costs, as they do not gain much weight as smaller individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual framework of social rank allocation discusses dominance and prestige as two viable routes to status or social influence. In doing so, this literature has largely neglected findings demonstrating backlash against men and women for behaving in gender-incongruent ways. Likewise, it remains unclear if dominance and prestige continue to be effective means to status over time. This study investigates the viability of dominance or prestige in contributing to an individual's social influence, conditional on their gender and across time. Using a stereotype-neutral context of an online social network, I unobtrusively tracked individuals' changes in social influence among their network members on Twitter. By analyzing almost 230,000 tweets, it was found that men's influence increased with greater dominance, whereas women's decreased. At the same time, women's influence increased with greater prestige, whereas men's decreased. Network centrality (in-degree centrality) explained this differential interaction pattern. Additionally, longitudinal analysis provided a more nuanced understanding. Over time, role incongruence effects dampened, dominance became less effective, even for men, and prestige became viable for both men and women. Thus, by jointly considering the role of gender and time, this research offers key theoretical caveats to the dual rank framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominance is a primary determinant of social dynamics and resource access in social animals. Recent studies show that dominance is also reflected in the gene regulatory profiles of peripheral immune cells. However, the strength and direction of this relationship differs across the species and sex combinations investigated, potentially due to variation in the predictors and energetic consequences of dominance status. Here, we investigated the association between social status and gene expression in the blood of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta; n = 113 individuals), including in response to lipopolysaccharide, Gardiquimod (an agonist of TLR7, which detects single‐stranded RNA in vivo) and glucocorticoid stimulation. Meerkats are cooperatively breeding social carnivores in which breeding females physically outcompete other females to suppress reproduction, resulting in high reproductive skew. They therefore present an opportunity to disentangle the effects of social dominance from those of sex per se. We identify a sex‐specific signature of dominance, including 1045 differentially expressed genes in females but none in males. Dominant females exhibit elevated activity in innate immune pathways and a larger fold‐change response to LPS challenge. Based on these results and a preliminary comparison to other mammals, we speculate that the gene regulatory signature of social status in the immune system depends on the determinants and energetic costs of social dominance, such that it is most pronounced in hierarchies where physical competition is important and reproductive skew is large. Such a pattern has the potential to mediate life history trade‐offs between investment in reproduction versus somatic maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is well known as the executive center of the brain, combining internal states and goals to execute purposeful behavior, including social actions. With the advancement of tools for monitoring and manipulating neural activity in rodents, substantial progress has been made in understanding the specific cell types and neural circuits within the PFC that are essential for processing social cues and influencing social behaviors. Furthermore, combining these tools with translationally relevant behavioral paradigms has also provided novel insights into the PFC neural mechanisms that may contribute to social deficits in various psychiatric disorders. This review highlights findings from the past decade that have shed light on the PFC cell types and neural circuits that support social information processing and distinct aspects of social behavior, including social interactions, social memory, and social dominance. We also explore how the PFC contributes to social deficits in rodents induced by social isolation, social fear conditioning, and social status loss. These studies provide evidence that the PFC uses both overlapping and unique neural mechanisms to support distinct components of social cognition. Furthermore, specific PFC neural mechanisms drive social deficits induced by different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our review of 154 articles published over the last decade portrays an evolution of status research. This body of literature has transitioned from viewing status as a monolithic construct to appreciating its inherently multidimensional nature, characterized by diverse types, functions, levels, and audience structures. Although this shift has expanded our knowledge, it has also introduced increased complexity and fragmentation. To systematize this scattered work on a multifaceted view of status, we develop a comprehensive framework that integrates the diverse research findings. For each constituent part of this framework, we review key themes and insights in the literature and outline future research directions. Our goal is to provide a clear roadmap to navigate the increasing complexity of status research, encouraging more precise theorizing and transversal exploration across the different dimensions of status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research demonstrates that overconfident people are more likely to attain high-status positions of leadership and influence. However, the underlying motivational and behavioral mechanisms driving this relationship remain largely unexplored. In the present research, we sought to fill this gap in the literature by proposing that overconfidence is associated with stronger status motives and the pursuit of high-status positions via dominance-based strategies. In Studies 1 and 2, we find overconfidence to be positively related to the pursuit of high-status positions of leadership. In Studies 3 and 4, we find overconfident individuals to lean towards dominance- over prestige-based status-seeking strategies. Finally, in Study 4, a field study among real-world supervisor-subordinate dyads, we find an indirect effect of overconfidence on expected social status advancement through dominance. Together, the current studies offer novel insight into the relationship between overconfidence and social status advancement by identifying previously unexplored explanatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do affluent people drive used cars, elite chefs praise basic ingredients, and upper‐middle couples arrange backyard weddings? What makes senior professors feel comfortable dressing down and allows men to bring their kids into the office? This article takes a formal sociological approach to explore the cultural phenomenon of "Status Downplay"—a paradoxical type of status display, where more social status is signaled through a subtraction of status symbols. The trans‐contextual analysis of diverse manifestations of status downplay uncovers the inverted cultural presumptions of "doing" and "being" and the hierarchical classifications underlying such parodical presentation of self. The proposed semiotic model articulates the social privilege of unmarked actors' performative flexibility: the social license of those considered "normals" to deviate from the performative norm. Under this asymmetrical structure, status underdoings are revealed as markers of cultural dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I examine the simultaneous expansion of urban sprawl and influx of middle‐class migrants in the context of Gurugram, India, to highlight how physical and social space plays an integral role in shaping class distinction among the migrant middle classes. I make a case for social class, generally, and migrant middle classes in neo‐urban contexts, specifically, to be understood as a sociospatial category. My arguments build primarily on Bourdieu's argument that both physical and social space operates on similar principles of reciprocal externality of positions in the context of social class distinction. I highlight how the migrant middle classes formulate and consolidate their social class distinction against competing claims over sociospatial dominance of the local ancestral agrarian community in neo‐urban Gurugram, India. My findings highlight how existing local sociopolitical fractures interact with global capitalist circuits of capital to shape the sociospatial context in which social class distinction is formulated. The article allows for grounding theorizations of social class to accommodate local sociopolitical and sociospatial dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the motivations and barriers behind the decision of economically disadvantaged Moldovans to refrain from migrating for better economic prospects. Drawing on 30 qualitative interviews with voluntary stayers, it uncovers a range of individual‐level characteristics that impede migration aspirations. These findings highlight the heightened sensitivity of lower‐wage stayers to their perceived social status abroad, their limited adaptability to new cultures and environments and their lower willpower to endure the challenges of long‐term gains. Moreover, this paper sheds light on their contentment with modest material gains and their aversion to migration risks. At the structural level, it emphasizes how social inequalities act as barriers for specific social groups, particularly the economically disadvantaged. These empirical insights challenge prevailing assumptions about the dominance of economic costs and network abroad in migration decision‐making, offering a fresh perspective on the social factors and costs shaping stayers' choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing attention to the importance of factoring men's experience into theorizing around increasing women's advancement in organizations. Past research has documented that women face stronger penalties than men for displaying dominance behaviors (Williams & Tiedens, 2016). Recent research shows that men perceive negotiations and competition, especially against women, as activities that could threaten their masculinity and social status (Mazei et al., 2021), making them particularly sensitive to women's dominance displays. We theorize that men experience anxiety when interacting with women displaying dominance behaviors (e.g., women initiating negotiation or competing in a masculine contest) which decreases their willingness to work with them. We propose and test a self-affirmation intervention to increase men's openness to women displaying dominance behaviors through a reduction in anxiety. In Study 1, we examine negotiations between MBA students to show that women's dominance behaviors are associated with men's heightened anxiety. In Study 2a, we experimentally offer evidence that self-affirmation moderates the effect of women's dominance on men's lower willingness to work with them. In Study 2b, we demonstrate that self-affirmation increases men's openness to women displaying dominance behaviors through a reduction in anxiety. In Study 3, we manipulate men's feelings of anxiety and show that selfaffirmation decreases anxiety and increases men's behavioral collaboration with women displaying dominance behaviors. We discuss the potential implications of these findings for our understanding of gender bias in organizations, in particular for work cultures that induce stress and anxiety in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In animals, the access to vital resources often relies on individuals' behavioural personality, strength, motivation, past experiences and dominance status. Dominant individuals would be more territorial, providing them with a better access to food resources and mate. The so-called winner and loser effects induce individuals' behavioural changes after experiencing a victory or a defeat, and lead to an individual persistent state influencing the outcome of subsequent fights. However, whether and how development of winner and loser effects affect individuals' fitness is controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate how individuals' fitness can be influenced by previous fighting experience in Drosophila melanogaster. In this study, we assess various behavioural performances as indicators for dominant and subordinate fitness. Our results show that subordinates are less territorial than dominants although their locomotor abilities are not affected. We also demonstrate that in a non-competitive context, experiencing a defeat reduces males' motivation to court females but not the reproductive success while in a competitive context, it negatively affects males' reproductive success. However, we found no impact upon either males' ability to distinguish potential mates nor on females' choice of a specific mating partner. Overall, these results indicate that previous defeats reduce reproductive success, a commonly used estimate of individual fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial examines the impact of sex and gender on power, status, dominance, and leadership in human and mammalian societies. It emphasizes the need for collaboration between natural and social sciences to study these topics. The research combines contributions from ecology, biology, psychology, and management to gain a deeper understanding of gender inequalities and explore ways to reduce disparities. The article discusses various studies on the effects of sex and gender on power dynamics, including the role of emotional labor in women's prosocial power and the dynamics of male-female power in non-human societies. The goal is to develop a more comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of gender differences in power dynamics, which could contribute to empowering women. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the Talmudic interpretation of biblical narratives involving sexual encounters. Topics discussed include the motif of "sex as power," demonstrated through strategic displays of sexual prowess by male biblical characters to assert dominance, control, or influence, shedding light on the Talmud's assertions through broader biblical and rabbinic discourse and addressing the hyperbolic nature of the numbers mentioned.

All societies are organized based on hierarchies, where some groups have more power than others. Although some may aspire for a hierarchy-free world, hierarchies are inevitable and strongly resistant to changes. People may feel motivated to see hierarchical social systems as fair, legitimate, and justified, and endorse system-justifying ideologies, such as social dominance orientation (SDO), contributing to the maintenance and perpetuation of intergroup inequality. Belief in the social system's fairness and legitimacy should increase acceptance and support for the existing society-based social stratification and status hierarchies, weakening support for collective action towards social change. We tested this idea, with two studies, conducted on members of the general population (N = 121) and on members of a disadvantaged group highly mobilized for social change towards intergroup equality (N = 154). Results showed that system justification undermines collective action through SDO (full mediation). We discuss the implications of including ideological processes when predicting collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of sex and gender on power, dominance, and leadership in human and mammalian societies. It emphasizes the similarities in the unequal distribution of power between males and females in both human and animal societies. The article highlights the need for interdisciplinary research and collaboration between natural and social sciences to gain a comprehensive understanding of these dynamics. It explores various factors that influence women's advancement to powerful positions and the evaluation of female and male leaders. The article also discusses the evolutionary origins and flexibility of intersexual dominance in mammalian societies, with a focus on lemurs. Overall, the goal of the research is to deepen our understanding of gender and sex inequalities and generate insights into reducing disparities. [Extracted from the article]

Although testosterone is generally considered to promote dominance behaviors, in humans it fosters behaviors appropriate to achieving and maintaining social status, contingent upon the situation. Recent cross-sectional studies, such as Inoue et al. (Sci Rep 7:5335, 2017), have shown that dominance behaviors induced by testosterone are modulated by high status. Yet, it remains ambiguous whether a rise in social status within real-world social groups reshapes the relationship between testosterone and dominance behavior. To investigate this longitudinal question, we added a second wave to Inoue et al.'s study, collecting further data after an interval of 2 years. Members of a university rugby team that adheres to a rigid hierarchical order rooted in seniority played the Ultimatum Game with teammates and provided saliva for assays of testosterone and cortisol. Our analysis reveals that individuals with higher baseline salivary testosterone levels exhibited more dominance as their position in the hierarchy increased according to their seniority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic stress contribute to the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, characterizing the role of chronic social stressors in the development of problematic drinking trajectories in humans is complicated by practical and ethical constraints. Group‐housed nonhuman primates develop social dominance hierarchies that represent a continuum of social experiences from enrichment in higher‐ranked (dominant) monkeys to chronic social stress in lower‐ranked (subordinate) individuals. This framework provides a translationally relevant model of chronic social stress that can be used to characterize its effects on vulnerability to AUD. Methods: Twelve male cynomolgus monkeys living in three social groups with established social dominance hierarchies were provided access to ethanol and water for 22 h/day, 4–5 days/week, for 1 year. Ethanol‐free periods (2‐ or 3‐day "weekends" or longer periods up to 10 days) were spent in social groups to maintain the stability of the social hierarchies. Observational studies conducted 6 months into the year of drinking assessed signs of ethanol withdrawal. After 1 year, monkeys were individually housed 24 h/day, 7 days/week for four consecutive weeks to examine the effect of eliminating the "weekends" spent socially housed. Results: Subordinate monkeys had significantly higher mean daily ethanol intakes than dominant monkeys across 1 year of open access. Subordinates also had higher intakes on the first day back drinking following ethanol‐free periods of 9–10 days. Moreover, during the last 4 weeks of open access, intakes on the first drinking day after an ethanol‐free weekend increased significantly in subordinate monkeys. This effect diminished when all monkeys were individually housed for 4 weeks, indicating that the increased intake in subordinates was driven by the social environment. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that social subordination, which is associated with chronic social stress, results in increased vulnerability to the development and maintenance of heavy drinking trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, sexual assault (SA) is a significant problem that has adverse psychological impacts on women. Scholarship has shown that when survivors choose to disclose their experiences, the way their networks react has a powerful impact on their well-being, but literature on response to SA disclosure has not extensively explored variation among women, who are likely recipients of these disclosures. This study explored variation among perceptions of and blame attribution for SA within a geographically and politically diverse but primarily White sample of women. Participants were assigned one of four vignettes, each of which described a non-stereotypical SA. The vignettes differed in two ways: (1) the social status of the perpetrator of the assault and (2) the length of time the victim waited to report. Results showed that being older and more politically conservative was associated with assigning less blame to the perpetrator and more blame to the victim, but neither education level nor where the participant lived were linked with blame attribution. While women's own experiences of SA were unrelated to their responses, having a loved one who had experienced SA was associated with less victim blaming. With respect to attitudes, women endorsing higher levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) and sexism also reported higher levels of victim blame and lower levels of perpetrator blame. Further research should explore the role of specific personal experiences and knowledge of others' SA in assignment of blame, investigate the predictors and moderators of SDO, and should extend these findings to more racially/ethnically diverse samples of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social structure of gregarious animals can be influenced by phenotypic differences, including signals of quality or of social dominance such as colour ornamentation. Familiarity among individuals can also influence social behaviour. When individuals are already familiar with each other, it is unclear whether ornamentation remains important in shaping social behaviour. Here, we tested how long-term associations among individuals are affected by two types of perturbations. First, we tested whether experimentally manipulating ornamental plumage affected social dominance and network centrality among familiar individuals. In a second experiment, we tested whether temporary absence of individuals affected their long-term associations. In our first experiment, we reduced the size of the red breast plumage of wild-caught common waxbills, Estrilda astrild , that had been living together for over a year in a large mesocosm and monitored their social network and aggressive interactions before and up to 2 months after the manipulation. We found that waxbills with experimentally reduced red breast plumage did not change in social network centrality or social dominance, compared to controls. In our second experiment, we temporarily removed a subset of waxbills from the mesocosm and found that their social network centrality was not affected upon their return to the group 3 months later. The strength of associations between separated birds remained stable, not having changed more than those between control birds that remained together in the mesocosm. In contrast to these temporarily absent birds, waxbills entering the mesocosm for the first time occupied more central network positions. Results indicate that long-term associations among familiar waxbills are resilient to changes in ornamentation and to prolonged absence. We propose that resuming long-term associations with familiar individuals stabilizes social structure, which may increase the benefits of social living for gregarious species like the waxbill, which in nature exhibits fission–fusion and vagrant movements. - Colour ornamentation and familiarity can influence social behaviour - It is unclear whether colour ornamentation shapes sociality of familiar individuals - Using waxbills, we reduced the size of red colour or temporarily removed individuals - Neither treatment affected positions in the social network or dominance hierarchy - A resilient social structure may be adaptive in species with fission-fusion dynamics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sense of control has been conceived as an individual-level mechanism shaping the unequal distribution of life outcomes. Yet recent studies imply its potential to form interpersonal hierarchies through two distinct dimensions: status and power. As extant theorizing favors status processes over power dynamics, we investigated it as a status element using status characteristic theory and a modified standardized experimental situation. We successfully detected sense of control's limited capacity to form status hierarchies. However, further analyses suggest that aspects of interactional power, instead of competence-based status generalization, explain more variance in the observed influence patterns. We conclude that the detected hierarchies may be power based, but another research design should test this possibility. We then discuss the implications of these thought-provoking outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When actors transgress social norms, their social status colors the severity with which they are punished. While some argue that high-status transgressors attract severe punishment when accused of ambiguous transgressions, others contend the opposite. In this paper, we attempt to reconcile this theoretical inconsistency. We propose that the capacity for social status to color third-party judgments of transgressions may depend on the status type of high-status actors. Drawing on the evolutionary theory of dominance and prestige as two alternate forms of status within social hierarchies, we suggest that actors associated with dominance-based status will be penalized more harshly than actors whose status is based on prestige. Across multiple studies employing archival field data, controlled lab experiments, and different instantiations of dominance, prestige, and misconduct, we consistently demonstrate that high-status dominant actors are punished more harshly than their prestigious counterparts. Further, we find that attributions of intentionality and lack of moral credentials explain the harsher punishments meted out to dominant (vs. prestigious) high-status actors. In this way, we provide both a parsimonious reconciliation of the inconsistency in the extant literature and a theoretical explanation of how status type of high-status actors differentially impacts the judgment, decisions, and behaviors of third parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status signaling hypothesis suggests that inconspicuous plumages are an honest signal of subordination in social animals, including those exhibiting delayed plumage maturation. In addition, body size may also determine the outcome of aggressive interactions and shape dominance relationships. We observed flocks of Saffron Finches (Sicalis flaveola brasiliensis) during the non-breeding season to investigate whether the probability of winning an aggressive interaction varies according to the plumage color class (yellow female, yellow male, and dull bird of both sexes), morphology (body mass, wing length, and tail length), and plumage color variation (reflectance of yellow breast feathers). In this subspecies, younger individuals of both sexes breed with duller plumage and present late maturation to yellow, definitive plumage. We found that, in general, yellow females were more likely to win aggressive interactions against conspecifics (of any plumage color class) than yellow males and dull birds, irrespective of plumage color variation or morphology. In contrast, yellow males were not more likely to win aggressive interactions against conspecifics than dull birds. When comparing yellow females to each other and yellow males to each other, in general, larger birds and birds with brighter plumages were more likely to win the aggressive interactions. Our results partially support the status signaling hypothesis, suggesting that plumage color class has a major influence on social dominance status, whereas gradual variation in morphology and plumage coloration signals fighting ability within plumage color classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cattle are gregarious animals able to form social relationships. Dominance is one of the most widely studied social behaviors of dairy cattle, especially cows confined indoors. However, much of the past dairy cattle research has used an unstandardized approach, differing in definitions and conceptual understanding of dominance, as well as their methods of data collection and dominance calculation. The first of the 3 aims of this review is to evaluate how dominance relates to the social behavior of housed dairy cows. Cows engage in agonistic interactions to establish and reinforce dominance relationships. An individual's dominance is influenced by intrinsic characteristics, such as personality, and extrinsic factors, including group composition. When competing for resources, agonistic interactions can also be influenced by individual motivational differences, such as hunger, which may diminish the role of dominance in regulating competition. Our second aim is to critically review methods used to assess dominance in cows. This includes discussions on the effect of time and location of data collection on measured values as well as the viability and limitations of some dominance calculation methods. We propose that different methodologies lend themselves to different types of research questions. For example, the use of data stream-based methods that consider the sequence of interactions are useful for estimating how dominance fluctuates with changing conditions and can be used in a dynamically changing group. In contrast, matrix-based methods that aggregate social interactions may be best for identifying the social position of individuals and understanding how social characteristics influence the attributes of a stable hierarchy. Our third aim is to discuss the future of dominance research. We use a flowchart to illustrate guidelines for a more standardized approach to measuring dominance in cattle. We also identify areas in need of further conceptual clarification, suggest practical applications of dominance when managing dairy cattle, and discuss some limitations of dominance research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical race theorists and standpoint epistemologists argue that agents who are members of dominant social groups are often in a state of ignorance about the extent of their social dominance, where this ignorance is explained by these agents' membership in a socially dominant group (e.g., Mills 2007). To illustrate this claim bluntly, it is argued: 1) that many white men do not know the extent of their social dominance, 2) that they remain ignorant as to the extent of their dominant social position even where this information is freely attainable, and 3) that this ignorance is due in part to the fact that they are white men. We argue that on Buchak's (2010, 2013) model of risk averse instrumental rationality, ignorance of one's privileges can be rational. This argument yields a new account of elite‐group ignorance, why it may occur, and how it might be alleviated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pride is a self-conscious emotion, comprised of two distinct facets known as authentic and hubristic pride, and associated with a cross-culturally recognized nonverbal expression. Authentic pride involves feelings of accomplishment and confidence and promotes prosocial behaviors, whereas hubristic pride involves feelings of arrogance and conceit and promotes antisociality. Each facet of pride, we argue, contributes to a distinct means of attaining social rank: Authentic pride seems to promote prestige—a rank based on earned respect—whereas hubristic pride seems to promote dominance—a rank based on aggression and coercion. Both prestige and dominance are effective routes to power and influence in human groups, so both facets of pride are likely to be functional adaptations. Overall, the reviewed research suggests that pride is likely to be a human universal, critical for social relationships and rank attainment across human societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer-to-peer aggression and bullying is a social phenomenon and is related to social structures in the school. In-group membership as well as construction of the other and differentiation from other potential groups is an important predictor of one's social identity. Social Dominance Orientation is an important addition to social identity theory as it examines both issues of social dominance and social egalitarianism and is related to out-group denigration. In this study, we examined whether social dominance theory (both the dominance and egalitarian forms) will add to the prediction of physical and relational aggression among adolescents. Using a bias-corrected 3-step approach, we used Latent Profile Analyses to examine the responses of 1617 Israeli adolescents on measures of social dominance and egalitarian orientation, salience of their social groups and moral disengagement. Based on the analysis, we identified four classes of respondents, which can be broken down into two distinct categories: high social dominance and moral disengagement and high social egalitarianism. We compared male and female adolescent respondents and group salience. We then compared the four latent profiles on the two distal variables of physical and relational peer-to-peer aggression. Findings have theoretical and applied relevance to further investigating issues of group dynamics and construction of the other as potential predictive factors in understanding peer-to-peer aggression and bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of minimally invasive biomarkers (MIBs – physiological biomarkers obtained from minimally invasive sample types) has expanded rapidly in science and medicine over the past several decades. The MIB approach is a methodological strength in the field of human and non‐human primate evolutionary biology (HEB). Among humans and our closest relatives, MIBs provide unique opportunities to document phenotypic variation and to operationalize evolutionary hypotheses. Aims: This paper overviews the use of MIBs in HEB. Our objectives are to (1) highlight key research topics which successfully implement MIBs, (2) identify promising yet under‐investigated areas of MIB application, and (3) discuss current challenges in MIB research, with suggestions for advancing the field. Discussion and Conclusions: A range of MIBs are used to investigate focal topics in HEB, including energetics and life history variation/evolution, developmental plasticity, and social status and dominance relationships. Nonetheless, we identify gaps in existing MIB research on traits such as physical growth and gut function that are central to the field. Several challenges remain for HEB research using MIBs, including the need for additional biomarkers and methods of assessment, robust validations, and approaches that are standardized across labs and research groups. Importantly, researchers must provide better support for adaptation and fitness effects in hypothesis testing (e.g., by obtaining complementary measures of energy expenditure, demonstrating redundancy of function, and performing lifetime/longitudinal analyses). We point to continued progress in the use of MIBs in HEB to better understand the past, present, and future of humans and our closest primate relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power, as a ubiquitous feature of social relations, is frequently used in information processing. Due to its relevance for social interactions, we expected that power is automatically processed. In three experiments, participants categorized stimuli in a response window priming procedure as either powerful or power‐neutral. The stimuli were preceded by briefly presented primes that were either never used as targets or were also used as targets. We obtained evidence for an automatic, unintentional processing of power‐related pictures even when novel primes were processed. The effect even occurred when primes and targets did not share any perceptual features, such that primes had to be processed semantically. We further revealed correlations between the automatic processing of power cues and right‐wing authoritarianism, but not social dominance orientation status, or power ability. In sum, we show a stable priming effect indicating that power is automatically processed from briefly presented primes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on grandiose narcissism distinguishes between self-promotional processes (i.e., narcissistic admiration) and other-derogative processes (i.e., narcissistic rivalry ; Back et al., 2013). Moreover, research has begun to assess and investigate narcissistic manifestations in different domains (e.g., communal narcissism). To integrate these two lines of research, we developed the Domain-Specific Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (D-NARQ), a 72-item narcissism questionnaire that contains a self-promotional process scale (narcissistic admiration) and an other-derogatory process scale (narcissistic rivalry) for four domains: intellectual ability, social dominance, communal care, and physical attractiveness. We investigated the psychometric properties of the D-NARQ in a large online study (N = 1,635). Model fit statistics were largely in line with the theorized factor structure. The D-NARQ scales had good to very good measurement precision, and their correlations with established narcissism scales, the Big Five personality traits, and comparative self-evaluations largely supported their convergent and discriminant validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a cross-cultural experiment on a sample of 230 participants, to examine how listening to an audio recording of a male telling a joke followed by either laughter (humorous condition) or an unimpressed murmur (non-humorous condition) affected participant ratings of that male's social status, dominance, prestige and attractiveness. The experiment followed a between-subjects design. The sample was cross-cultural to explore possible cultural variation and compared effects among Western (UK & USA) (n = 119, 74 females) and Turkish (n = 111, 87 females) participants. We measured participants' ratings of dominance/prestige and attractiveness, based on validated and previously used scales. In the humorous condition, the male was rated as having significantly higher social status and prestige but not dominance. He was also rated as more attractive by female participants from the UK & USA; this effect was mediated by prestige. Conversely, attractiveness ratings by female Turkish participants did not differ across conditions. The effect among the former was found to have been mediated via prestige. We interpret these findings as suggesting that humor production represents a means of gaining status but also highlighting that its recognized role in attractiveness varies cross-culturally. Although the present endeavor represents a pilot study, we believe that our findings raise new questions regarding the interrelationships of humor production, status, and attractiveness, and their evolutionary background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilevel social organizations necessitate close spatial proximity of social units, making dominance hierarchies between core units potentially important to control aggression. We examined whether an interunit dominance hierarchy was present for a Rwenzori Angolan colobus multilevel society (MLS) and its potential social correlates. We recorded the outcome of interunit interactions (IUIs, N = 167) over 59 days in a band of 14 core units at Nabugabo, Uganda. Core units were almost always closely clustered, so we defined IUIs as approaches that decreased the distance between units and lead to changes in behaviour. We assessed dominance using network-based ranking, because the hierarchy was not linear. Tiers of dominance were evident, and we examined these relative to demographics, clan identity (MLS tier 2), male anogenital distance (AGD – a correlate of in utero androgen exposure), and social network analyses (SNA) of interunit association. Unit displacements without aggression occurred in 31.7% of IUIs, and some aggression occurred in 64.7%. Dominance tier was not significantly associated with unit demographics, but units with males that had longer AGDs (more androgenized) tended to be more dominant. Social network analyses showed that higher-ranking units had greater strength, eigenvector centralities, and clustering coefficients than lower-ranking units. Interunit interactions between units in different clans were more aggressive than those within clans and clan identity correlated with dominance tier, indicating that one clan outranked the other. Overall, we demonstrate complex social and spatial factors determining priority-of-access to resources in a primate MLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer lay theory suggests that women will spend more money than men in the presence of a physically dominant male employee, whereas theories of intrasexual competition from evolutionary psychology predict the opposite outcome. A retail field study demonstrates that male customers spend more money and purchase more expensive products than their female counterparts in the presence (vs. absence) of a physically dominant male employee. This effect has a more powerful impact on male customers who lack bodily markers of dominance (shorter stature or measures linked to lower levels of testosterone). When confronted with other physically dominant (vs. nondominant) men, these male customers are particularly prone to signal status through price or logo size. Their elevated feelings of intrasexual (male-to-male) competitiveness drive them to spend more money on status-signaling, but not functional, products and to prefer and draw larger brand logos. Because pictorial exposure is sufficient for the effect to occur, these findings are not limited to in-store interactions with dominant male employees but have broad implications for marketing and advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facial expressions are key to navigating social group life. The Power Asymmetry Hypothesis of Motivational Emancipation predicts that the type of social organization shapes the meaning of communicative displays in relation to an individual's dominance rank. The bared‐teeth (BT) display represents one of the most widely observed communicative signals across primate species. Studies in macaques indicate that the BT display in despotic species is often performed unidirectionally, from low‐ to high‐ranking individuals (signaling submission), whereas the BT display in egalitarian species is usually produced irrespective of dominance (mainly signaling affiliation and appeasement). Despite its widespread presence, research connecting BT displays to the power asymmetry hypothesis outside the Macaca genus remains scarce. To extend this knowledge, we investigated the production of BT in relation to social dominance in dyadic interactions (N = 11,377 events) of 11 captive bonobos (Pan paniscus). Although adult bonobos were more despotic than previously suggested in the literature, BT displays were produced irrespective of dominance rank. Moreover, while adults produced the BT exclusively during socio‐sexual interactions, especially during periods of social tension, immature bonobos produced the BT in a wider number of contexts. As such, the results indicate that the communicative meaning of the BT display is consistent with signaling appeasement, especially in periods of social tension. Moreover, the BT display does not seem to signal social status, supporting the prediction for species with a high degree of social tolerance. These results advance our understanding of the origins of communicative signals and their relation to species' social systems. Research Highlight: Adult bonobos use bared‐teeth (BT) displays irrespectively of dominance rank, during sexual behaviors, when tensions are high.Juvenile bonobos use the BT in wider contexts, suggesting an adjustment of display rules over bonobo development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) influences consumers' purchase decisions, but few studies have investigated the antecedents that lead consumers to create different types of eWOM. From the perspective of social interactions, this research explored how two subtypes of pride not only compel consumers to create eWOM but also differently impact four types of eWOM and their mechanisms. Study 1 manipulated the pride state and found that authentic pride promoted positive eWOM and constructive eWOM, while hubristic pride promoted negative eWOM and destructive eWOM. Study 2 examined the effect of pride on eWOM at the trait level and tested the mediating effect of their use of social status pursuit strategy. Overall, this study increases the understanding of different types of eWOM and broadens the literature of the effect of pride and social status pursuit strategy in the context of consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article locates one of the earliest charitable performances organized by prostitutes in 1907 in two cities, Shanghai and Beijing. It examines the ways in which each social group prostitutes in the name of jijie (prostitute circles)/huajie (circles of flowers), the male elites who helped them manage the performances, and the newspaper commentators who responded to these events in mass media reconceptualized the formation of their identities, the transformation of their businesses, and the negotiation of their relationship with the emerging society and the nation in the last decade of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). It argues that the charitable performances not only cultivated the civic virtue of every group involved within a newly restructured society that prioritized public morals and nationalistic devotion, they also promoted person gain in terms of social status and reputation. To a large extent, these performances help us understand such bigger issues as female sexuality, the prostitution business, elite dominance, and the reform of China within the larger urban, social, and ideological contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominance hierarchies are typically stable, with dominants occupying central positions in social interaction networks. However, system perturbations, such as the removal of individuals, may cause instability, which varies according to the group's resilience. If the hierarchy undergoes a restructuring, this can occur through a dynamic process of self-organization (Social Dynamics hypothesis) or through the influence of individuals' attributes (Previous Attributes hypothesis). We analyzed the resilience of the white-lipped peccary hierarchy after the alpha's death and observed how the rise of a new dominant occurred. Additionally, we evaluated the validity of these two hypotheses in the restructuring of the system. We observed the group of white-lipped peccary males of the Municipal Zoo of Curitiba, PR, Brazil, from May to October 2018. We recorded and analyzed the agonistic and affiliative interactions, and we collected data from the attributes: weight, testicle size, testosterone serum and age, before and after the dominant's death (August). Due to this perturbation, the hierarchy started to show instability, but proved to be resilient. There was an increase in agonism and more than one individual pleading for the new dominant position, which was occupied by a subordinate male. Affiliative interactions were also important in the rise of the new alpha. The hierarchy was well ordered by the social dynamics among individuals, but weight and testicular volume were also correlated with the status of the individuals before, and with the serum testosterone after the alpha's death. Thus, both hypotheses affected the restructuring of this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Social scientists have suggested two typical ways of acquiring social power: dominance approach (gaining social power by applying violence, coercion, threat, and punishment) and prestige approach (gaining admiration and liking by demonstrating competence and sharing experience and knowledge). However, little is known about how people recognize and evaluate the differentiated process of the approaches, and even less about the early development of these processes. In the current study, 5–6-year old children heard stories about pairs comprising a dominance-based and a prestige-based powerholder, chose one of the powerholders as their friend and leader, and predicted which powerholder will gain the contested resources. Results: Compared to a dominance-based powerholder, children were more likely to choose a prestige-based powerholder as a friend and leader in different situations. Moreover, children predicted that prestige-based powerholders, and not dominance-based powerholders, would gain contested resources. These findings suggest that since childhood, human beings tend to be biased to not only judge prestige-based aspects as socially preferable, but also endorse the prestige-based powerholders' priority to possess valuable resources, which subsequently strengthens their high social status. These early childhood preferences can be instrumental in providing more harmonious environments for children in educational and daily contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African cichlids are well established models for studying social hierarchies in teleosts and elucidating the effects social dominance has on gene expression. Ascension in the social hierarchy has been found to increase plasma levels of steroid hormones, follicle stimulating hormone (Fsh) and luteinizing hormone (Lh) as well as gonadosomatic index (GSI). Furthermore, the expression of genes related to gonadotropins and steroidogenesis and signaling along the brain-pituitary-gonad axis (BPG-axis) is affected by changes of an animal's social status. In this study, we use RNA-sequencing to obtain an in-depth look at the transcriptomes of testes and pituitaries from dominant and subordinate male Nile tilapia living in long-term stable social hierarchies. This allows us to draw conclusions about factors along the brain-pituitary-gonad axis that are involved in maintaining dominance over weeks or even months. We identify a number of genes that are differentially regulated between dominant and subordinate males and show that in high-ranking fish this subset of genes is generally upregulated. Genes differentially expressed between the two social groups comprise growth factors, related binding proteins and receptors, components of Wnt-, Tgfβ- and retinoic acid-signaling pathway, gonadotropin signaling and steroidogenesis pathways. The latter is backed up by elevated levels of 11-ketotestosterone, testosterone and estradiol in dominant males. Luteinizing hormone (Lh) is found in higher concentration in the plasma of long-term dominant males than in subordinate animals. Our results both strengthen the existing models and propose new candidates for functional studies to expand our understanding of social phenomena in teleost fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In gregarious animals, social network positions of individuals may influence their life-history and fitness. Although association patterns and the position of individuals in social networks can be shaped by phenotypic differences and by past interactions, few studies have quantified their relative importance. We evaluated how phenotypic differences and familiarity influence social preferences and the position of individuals within the social network. We monitored wild-caught common waxbills (Estrilda astrild) with radio-frequency identifiers in a large mesocosm during the non-breeding and breeding seasons of two consecutive years. We found that social networks were similar, and that the centrality of individuals was repeatable, across seasons and years, indicating a stable social phenotype. Nonetheless, there were seasonal changes in social structure: waxbills associated more strongly with opposite-sex individuals in breeding seasons, whereas in non-breeding seasons they instead assorted according to similarities in social dominance. We also observed stronger assortment between birds that were introduced to the mesocosm at the same time, indicating long-lasting bonds among familiar individuals. Waxbills that had been introduced to the mesocosm more recently occupied more central network positions, especially during breeding seasons, perhaps indicating that these birds had less socially-differentiated associations with flock members. Finally, individual differences in color ornamentation and behavioral assays of personality, inhibitory control, and stress were not related to network centrality or association patterns. Together, these results suggest that, in gregarious species like the common waxbill, social networks may be more strongly shaped by long-lasting associations with familiar individuals than by phenotypic differences among group members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We opted to use faces of young-adults with an emotional-neutral expression while recognizing that different emotional expressions impact dominance ratings in various ways (Zebrowitz, [46]). Information for a given face is not shown when the number of ratings for that face was less than five. Having norming data for the same faces spanning attractiveness, trustworthiness and dominance allows for a more careful and integrated stimuli-selection strategy, more detailed data analyses, and opens new research opportunities in several domains. Keywords: social dominance; face evaluation; ratings; social inferences; individual variables; online and laboratory data collection EN social dominance face evaluation ratings social inferences individual variables online and laboratory data collection 1 6 6 05/04/22 20220429 NES 220429 Introduction Assessing someone's dominance from facial cues occurs in a relatively automatic fashion. [Extracted from the article]

Status-seeking behavior, the pursuit of a higher position on an international social hierarchy as perceived and defined by members of a community, has received considerable attention in recent years. Yet, much of what this recent literature calls status-seeking is difficult to distinguish from something else: the pursuit of fairness. We disentangle status-seeking from fairness-seeking by identifying where a pure status-seeking and a fairness-seeking argument diverge—in the degree to which state actors demand exclusive rights and privileges. Survey experiments of the Russian public concerning the country's membership in the G8 as well as a case study of Germany's behavior in the first Moroccan crisis provide strong support for our "biased fairness" account. Derived from the behavioral economics and psychology literature, it maintains that leaders demand entitlements that match their status and find any such denial as less fair than an equivalent discrepancy for other countries. However, once assured of what they deserve, they do not demonstrate any tendency to exclude others, the hallmark of the status motivation. Convergent evidence at multiple levels of analysis, country contexts, and widely different time periods gives strong indications that fairness concerns are driving much of what is attributed to status-seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size-based dominance hierarchies influence fitness, group size and population dynamics and link dominance structure to evolutionary and ecological outcomes. While larger individuals often gain dominance, social status may influence growth and size in return, resulting in feedbacks among status, growth and size. Here, we present two models evaluating how these feedbacks influence the emergence of size structure in a dominance hierarchy. In the first, size influences competition for food and investment in suppressing growth of groupmates. Stable size differences emerged when suppression was greatest for similarly sized individuals and size had little effect on competition for food. The model predicted size divergence when size strongly affected competition for food. In the second model, we used a dynamic game to solve for optimal investment in growth suppression as a function of size structure. Investment in growth suppression was favoured only when dominants and subordinates were similar in size, generating size ratios different than those expected by chance. Variation in the feedbacks among growth, size and status can explain variation in emergent size structure of dominance hierarchies and its consequences for conflict within groups. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When an individual ascends in dominance status within their social community, they often undergo a suite of behavioural, physiological and neuromolecular changes. While these changes have been extensively characterized across a number of species, we know much less about the degree to which these changes in turn influence cognitive processes like associative learning, memory and spatial navigation. Here, we assessed male Astatotilapia burtoni, an African cichlid fish known for its dynamic social dominance hierarchies, in a set of cognitive tasks both before and after a community perturbation in which some individuals ascended in dominance status. We assayed steroid hormone (cortisol, testosterone) levels before and after the community experienced a social perturbation. We found that ascending males changed their physiology and novel object recognition preference during the perturbation, and they subsequently differed in social competence from non-ascenders. Additionally, using a principal component analysis we were able to identify specific cognitive and physiological attributes that appear to predispose certain individuals to ascend in social status once a perturbation occurs. These previously undiscovered relationships between social ascent and cognition further emphasize the broad influence of social dominance on animal decision-making. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social hierarchies are recognized as dynamic systems, they are typically treated as static entities for practical reasons. Here, we ask what we can learn from a dynamical view of dominance, and provide a research agenda for the next decades. We identify five broad questions at the individual, dyadic and group levels, exploring the causes and consequences of individual changes in rank, the dynamics underlying dyadic dominance relationships, and the origins and impacts of social instability. Although challenges remain, we propose avenues for overcoming them. We suggest distinguishing between different types of social mobility to provide conceptual clarity about hierarchy dynamics at the individual level, and emphasize the need to explore how these dynamic processes produce dominance trajectories over individual lifespans and impact selection on status-seeking behaviour. At the dyadic level, there is scope for deeper exploration of decision-making processes leading to observed interactions, and how stable but malleable relationships emerge from these interactions. Across scales, model systems where rank is manipulable will be extremely useful for testing hypotheses about dominance dynamics. Long-term individual-based studies will also be critical for understanding the impact of rare events, and for interrogating dynamics that unfold over lifetimes and generations. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social environment is a major determinant of morbidity, mortality and Darwinian fitness in social animals. Recent studies have begun to uncover the molecular processes associated with these relationships, but the degree to which they vary across different dimensions of the social environment remains unclear. Here, we draw on a long-term field study of wild baboons to compare the signatures of affiliative and competitive aspects of the social environment in white blood cell gene regulation, under both immunestimulated and non-stimulated conditions. We find that the effects of dominance rank on gene expression are directionally opposite in males versus females, such that high-ranking males resemble low-ranking females, and vice versa. Among females, rank and social bond strength are both reflected in the activity of cellular metabolism and proliferation genes. However, while we observe pronounced rank-related differences in baseline immune gene activity, only bond strength predicts the fold-change response to immune (lipopolysaccharide) stimulation. Together, our results indicate that the directionality and magnitude of social effects on gene regulation depend on the aspect of the social environment under study. This heterogeneity may help explain why social environmental effects on health and longevity can also vary between measures. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]