[2] Power is the ability to influence behavior[3] and may not be fully assessable until it is challenged with equal force.
[6] Moskowitz, Suh, and Desaulniers (1994) describe two similar ways that people can relate to society as parties to interpersonal relationships: agency and communion.
Agency includes status and is on a continuum from assertiveness-dominance to passive-submissiveness; it can be measured by subtracting submissiveness from dominance.
Those with the greatest and least power typically do not assert dominance while those with more equal relationships make more control attempts.
Restrict or have preferential treatment to what amounts one can access the food, potential and actual mates, territory, resting and sleeping areas, and the locations for that group that's most protected from predators; 2.
[7][8] Through the generations, allotted hierarchy legitimizing theories are spread by the power structure, which suggest what beliefs and attitudes are permissible.
An important factor for humans and animals to detect in order to survive is the idea of involvement which can be indicated through change and intensity (Tusing and Dillard, 2000).
Interruptions, vocal control, loudness, pitch, verbosity, speech rate and message length were found to predict perceptions of dominance.
Youngquist (2009) chose to look at how dominance as indicated by intrusive interruptions is perceived differently depending on the gender composition of dyads.
Couples were initially separated and asked to write a list of items they would like to spend a hypothetical gift of money on.
In study two, 96 individuals watched a male technician fail at his job and then explain himself showing a neutral, angry or shameful expression.
Sadness and fear were also seen as more fitting for an individual with lower power (Carney, Hall, and LeBeau, 2005) Hareli and Shomrat (2009) found that shame tended to decrease perceptions of dominance more so than anger increases perceptions of dominance for males.
Carney, Hall, and LeBeau (2005) found that high power individuals were more likely to use gestures, initiate more hand shaking and engage in a higher frequency of invasive touch.
Dunbar and Burgoon (2005) found that observers rated only males as more dominant with increased use of illustrator gestures.
It is true power and dominance are essential components in all of the world from cells to plants to reptiles, and humans that all have to fight for resources.
As humans it is essential to use one's knowledge to make the world a more harmonious place using tools of assessment in order to understand individual and group behavior.
One can use this knowledge to one's advantage, for instance, if a boss is deciding between two individuals who are of relatively equal credentials.
An individual could appear more competent by displaying dominant behaviors in reason which would could indicate confidence and the ability for leadership.
For instance, women who display dominance can be judged differently than men exhibiting the same behavior (Burgoon et al..; Carli and Winn, as cited by Youngquist, 2009).
For instance, individuals in a same-sex group can be perceived to be of equal status and are expected per norms to play fairly (Orcutt and Harvey, as cited by Youngquist, 2009).
Mixed findings have occurred when one attempts to explain dominance displays by gender or role salience.
In addition to gender differences it is important to be able to identify and understand how verbal indicators relate to dominance.