Functions
Established dominance relationships may function to reduce the level of aggression between the individuals concerned. This reduces energy expenditure and the risks of injury during fighting.
A dominant animal is one whose sexual, feeding, aggressive and other behavior patterns subsequently occur with relatively little influence of the other group members. Subordinate animals are opposite; their behavior can be relatively easily influenced or inhibited by other group members. For many animal societies, an individual's position in the dominance hierarchy corresponds with their opportunities to reproduce, however, in other animal societies, the dominance hierarchy may be unrelated to (potential) opportunities to reproduce, e.g. Naked mole rat, bees and many farm, laboratory, zoo and companion animals. Studies have shown there is a strong association between high testosterone levels and dominance behaviors that help enhance mating success in men.
In hierarchical societies, dominant individuals may exert control over others. For example, in a herd of feral goats it is a large male that is dominant and maintains discipline and coherence of the flock. He leads the group but shares leadership on a foraging expedition with an old she-goat who will normally outlast a succession of dominant males. However, earlier work showed that leadership orders in goats did not seem to be related to age or dominance.
In sheep, position in a moving flock is highly correlated with social dominance, but there is no definite study to show consistent voluntary leadership by an individual sheep.
It has been suggested, however, that more commonly, decision-taking about the actions of the group is dissociated from social dominance.
Read more about this topic: Dominance (ethology)
Famous quotes containing the word functions:
“The English masses are lovable: they are kind, decent, tolerant, practical and not stupid. The tragedy is that there are too many of them, and that they are aimless, having outgrown the servile functions for which they were encouraged to multiply. One day these huge crowds will have to seize power because there will be nothing else for them to do, and yet they neither demand power nor are ready to make use of it; they will learn only to be bored in a new way.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)
“If photography is allowed to stand in for art in some of its functions it will soon supplant or corrupt it completely thanks to the natural support it will find in the stupidity of the multitude. It must return to its real task, which is to be the servant of the sciences and the arts, but the very humble servant, like printing and shorthand which have neither created nor supplanted literature.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“One of the most highly valued functions of used parents these days is to be the villains of their children’s lives, the people the child blames for any shortcomings or disappointments. But if your identity comes from your parents’ failings, then you remain forever a member of the child generation, stuck and unable to move on to an adulthood in which you identify yourself in terms of what you do, not what has been done to you.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)