Men are Dogs, and Dominance is a Factor

From Discover magazine comes this little observation:

Dominance may be ill-defined and unpredictable, but most researchers still believe that it dictates the terms of daily life—whether in a pack of wolves stretching and greeting one another at dawn, or in an office full of brokers heading for their trading desks at 7 a.m. Scientists view social hierarchy as a necessary evil allowing any group to function more effectively. It’s why committees have chairpersons. Sorting out rank in the first place can be perilous for everyone. So it pays to settle on a hierarchy and then avoid further bloodshed by acknowledging rank with gestures of dominance or submission: The boss preens and tells bad jokes. His subordinates gather around and laugh appreciatively.

The alternative is to squabble endlessly about who ought to be in charge. In one study, researchers left the pecking order in some chicken flocks undisturbed. But they deliberately unsettled other flocks week after week by removing whichever bird had struggled to the top. The flocks with undisturbed hierarchies not only did less bickering, but also ate more food, gained weight faster, and produced more eggs.

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