Anybody Can Be a Boss But Only Certain People Make Good Subordinates: Behavioral Impacts of Striving for Dominance and Dominance Aversion

The present study investigated whether people in assigned subordinate or dominant roles differ in their dominance behavior according to whether they initially wanted a subordinate or a dominant role. Sixty-six females and 72 males interacted twice for 8 mins in same-gender dyads. Prior to the interaction, participants could indicate whether they preferred to take a subordinate or a dominant role. Roles were then assigned randomly. Both interactions were videotaped and later coded for perceived dominance and speaking time. Results showed that for assigned subordinates, those who initially wanted to be in the dominant position were perceived as more dominant and behaved more dominantly than those who initially wanted to be in the subordinate role. For assigned high-dominance people, there was no difference in perceived dominance and behavioral dominance between those who initially wanted the dominant versus subordinate position.