The Effect of Content and Demeanor on Reactions to Dominance Behavior.

Abstract

Dominance behavior, the attempt to direct or control others through threat, has been shown to be a generally ineffective influence tactic and results in negative affective reactions and evaluations from others. However, the nonverbal expression of dominance can be distinguished from dominant message content, and the authors propose that the nonverbal component of dominance (demeanor) may more readily convey feelings of threat and result in stronger negative reactions than the verbal component (content). Participants rated statements that varied in terms of neutral or dominant content and whether they were presented with neutral or dominant demeanor. The results indicated that both dominant content and dominant demeanor resulted in negative affective reactions and lower evaluations of competence and leadership. Results further indicated that dominant expressive behavior contributed more to the observer’s negative reactions than did dominant content. Research suggests that dominance behavior is a generally ineffective influence tactic in groups and leads to negative evaluations from others of incompetence, resentment, and dislike (Carli, LaFleur, & Loeber, 1995; Driskell, Olmstead, & Salas, 1993; Yukl & Tracey, 1992). These results led Driskell et al. (1993) to conclude that dominance behavior violates a general norm of appropriate behavior in task groups. That is, most task groups hold norms of conduct, including norms that group members should not threaten others. To the extent that dominance behavior is deemed to be a violation of these general task norms, this violation will result in negative reactions of dislike or disapproval toward the norm violator. However, little research has examined why this is the case. A dominant message (“Do this now or else!”) includes both a verbal and nonverbal component. The verbal component conveys the content of the message. The nonverbal component conveys expressive cues such as a lowered brow or loud voice. It is likely that the more emotion-laden expressive component of dominance may constitute a stronger expression of threat relative to the content of the message, and it may be the dominant demeanor that leads to strong negative reactions from others. In this study, we draw a distinction between dominant content and dominant demeanor, and we examine the extent to which negative reactions to dominance-influence attempts are determined by these separate components.