Citation

Adams KA, Landers AD. Sex Roles 1978; 4(2): 215-223.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00287502

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The effect of the status characteristic of sex on dominance behavior was investigated as a function of a challenger's sex and in relation to one's sex-role orientation. Dyads composed of a student and a confederate recorded individual preferences, then joint decisions, for the more attractive picture of 20 pairs of pictures. The number of challenges a student sustained each time a disagreement occurred regarding the more attractive picture of a pair was recorded. Males withstood significantly more challenges against their preferences than females did ( p <.006). However, no differences were found as a function of the sex of one's partner; nor did the Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) prove to be a good predictor of dominance. Results were discussed in terms of predictions made by the theory of status characteristics.