GAZE AND DOMINANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STABILITY OF A POWER RELATIONSHIP.
Item
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Title
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GAZE AND DOMINANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STABILITY OF A POWER RELATIONSHIP.
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Identifier
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AAI8713804
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identifier
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8713804
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Creator
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SUNUNU, RANDA D.
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Contributor
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Howard Ehrlichman
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Date
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1987
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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A literature review showed that people who engage in high levels of interpersonal gaze are perceived to be powerful, but so are those who engage in low levels of gaze while listening. Stability of the power relationship was hypothesized to account for this discrepancy. Specifically, under unstable conditions (where there is no clear consensus as to who is more powerful) looking was hypothesized to be a way to establish dominance over another, while under stable conditions (where a consensus exists) not looking while listening was seen as a way to maintain dominance. Consequently, it was predicted that a looking listener would be judged to be more powerful when the relationship was unstable than when it was stable, while a non-looking listener would be judged more powerful when the relationship was stable than unstable.;Four cartoon drawings of two male figures who were mirror images of each other except for gaze and head direction were drawn. One figure was looking at the other, who was depicted looking away. In half the cartoons the looker was the speaker, and in half the listener. The cartoons were accompanied by stable or unstable scenarios, in which the characters had non-equivalent or equivalent occupational status and did or did not know each other. Ninety six subjects received the stable scenarios, and 96 the unstable. Subjects indicated which figure was which character, and rated each figure on various emotions and power-related characteristics.;Results showed: (1) the proportion of subjects with the stable scenario selecting the looking listener as the lower status character was significantly greater than chance in three cartoons; (2) the looking listener was rated significantly stronger in the unstable than the stable condition in one cartoon; (3) the non-looking listener was rated significantly stronger in the stable than the unstable condition in one cartoon; (4) of those rating the figures as different in strength, the proportion who rated the looking speaker as stronger than the non-looking listener was significantly greater under unstable than stable conditions.;The results partly supported the hypotheses. Factors that could account for the lack of greater support were discussed together with future research suggestions.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
