Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Integrated Article

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Psychology

Supervisor

Heerey, Erin

Abstract

The pursuit of social rank is pervasive across societies and cultures. Previous studies have identified two distinct avenues for attaining social rank: prestige and dominance. While prestige (communication of skill/ability) and dominance (communication of superiority) are crucial to interpersonal interactions, it is unclear how people communicate prestige or dominance and how such communication affects team performance. To investigate these ideas, 206 individuals participated in a cooperative dyadic building task. A computer randomly assigned dyad members to one of two roles—builder (who handled and placed model pieces) and instructor (who directed the builder's actions). Additionally, using a false feedback paradigm, a computer informed some participants they would perform better in either the builder or instructor role, regardless of their actual assigned role, to see whether perceived role aptitude affected prestige/dominance cues. Thus, the design included two factors: role (builder/instructor) and feedback type (matched with role, mismatched with role). During the task, participants worked together to construct a LEGO model, which was then scored for completion/correctness. Building sessions were video recorded for offline analysis. Data analysis showed the manipulated role feedback did not change partner-ratings of dominance or prestige, suggesting these interpersonal styles may function similarly to stable personality traits and are not dependent on perceived ability or role aptitude. Moreover, we found no evidence that partner-rated dominance or prestige communication affected how much of the model the group completed. However, the results show dominance had an effect on the number of mistakes made in the model in that mistakes were fewest when one partner was high in dominance and the other was low. Discussion focuses on how these variables relate to performance ability and interpersonal processes.


Summary for Lay Audience

The desire to gain more social status and power exists among all social groups. Two common ways individuals try to increase their influence within groups is through communicating prestige (communication of skill/ability) and dominance (communication of superiority). It is not clear how exactly these types of communications are successfully transmitted. Furthermore, it is unclear how engaging in such strategic communications such as dominance or prestige affect group performance. To investigate these ideas, 206 individuals were organized in pairs and worked together to build a LEGO mode. A computer randomly assigned each partner one of two roles—builder (who handled and placed model pieces) and instructor (who directed the builder's actions). Additionally, a computer informed one of the partner members they would perform better in either the builder or instructor role, regardless of their actual assigned role. This feedback was not accurate, but randomly assigned by the computer.This process results in two factors: role (builder/instructor) and feedback type (matched with role, mismatched with role). During the task, participants worked together to construct a LEGO model, which was then scored for completion/correctness. Building sessions were video recorded for analysis. Data analysis showed the manipulated role feedback did not change partner-ratings of dominance or prestige, suggesting these communication styles may function similarly to stable personality traits and are not dependent on perceived ability or role aptitude. Moreover, we found no evidence that partner-rated dominance or prestige communication affected how much of the LEGO model the group completed. However, the results show dominance had an effect on the number of mistakes made in the model in that mistakes were fewest when one partner was high in dominance and the other was low. Discussion focuses on how these variables relate to performance ability and interpersonal processes.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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