Visual Dominance Behavior in Female Dyads: Situational and Personality Factors

Abstract

Two experiments investigated patterns of visual behavior in females. In the first study, subjects interacted with a confederate presented as higher or lower in status than themselves. Females who were relatively high in status demonstrated nearly equivalent rates of look-speak and look-listen behaviors, while low status subjects showed significantly more looking behavior when listening than when speaking. A second study found similar patterns of visual behavior based on a personality variable hypothesized to be related to concern for power. Subjects who scored uigh on the Expressed Control subscale of Schutz's (1958) FIRO-B personality inventory exhibited visual behavior analogous to high status subjects; low Expressed Control scoring females manifested a pattern similar to low status subjects in the first study. Thus, evidence was found supporting the existence of visual dominance behavior in humans. A pattern of visual submissive behavior, however, did not appear distinct from equal status visual interaction.