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Dominance as a competence domain, and the evolutionary origins of respect and contempt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2017

Bernard Chapais
Bernard Chapais*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada. [email protected]
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Abstract

The hypothesis of a phylogenetic connection between protorespect in primate dominance hierarchies and respect in human prestige hierarchies lies in the principle that dominance is a domain of competence like others and, hence, that high-ranking primates have protoprestige. The idea that dominant primates manifest protocontempt to subordinates suggests that “looking down on” followers is intrinsic to leadership in humans, but that the expression of contempt varies critically in relation to the socioecological context.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e230
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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