Power moves: complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior

“Research on the dominance–submissiveness (ie, control/agency) dimension of social relationships (Wiggins, Trapnell, & Phillips, 1988 ) illustrates that in task‐related contexts individuals prefer to coordinate with each other when one individual is dominant and the other is submissive (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003 ; Tieden…”

“Another case in which affective diversity may be helpful is when displays differ in terms of dominance versus suppression, for which complementarity is preferable to convergence ( Tiedens & Fragale, 2003 ).”

“A study published after our search period also revealed such a relation, based on naı¨ve participants' ratings of a confederate (r ϭ .29, Z ϭ 2.79; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Similarly, people who are exposed to a dominant individual decrease their postural stance, while the inverse is true for those who are exposed to a submissive individual (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“A difference in status between interactants seems to be one variable that can lead to complementarity rather than mimicry (Tiedens & Fragale 2003), as can relationship status (Häfner & IJzerman 2011).”

“Both monkeys and humans frequently experience non-matching sensorimotor contingencies, where the observation of one action predicts the execution of another; for example, you release and I grasp (Newman-Norlund, van Schie, van Zuijlen, & Bekkering, 2007; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“…activation in humans, not only after laboratory training (Catmur et al., 2007, 2008, in press) and atypical development (Gazzola et al., 2007a,b), but also in each of these contexts following typical development (Newman-Norlund et al., 2007; Tiedens and Fragale, 2003; Van Schie et al., 2008).”

“Dominance complementarity represents the existence of a status hierarchy (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003) in which both members are able to “confirm . . . self-definitions” (Kiesler, 1983: 198).”

“Complementary emotional responses to another person’s suffering, therefore, benefit relationships by motivating prosocial behavior—a notion that dovetails with findings that complementarity of nonverbal behavior increases affection and comfort (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Rothman (2011) suggests that because individuals tend to act more dominantly towards partners whom they perceive to be submissive (Tiedens and Fragale, 2003), and because ambivalent partners are perceived as more deliberative, and in turn submissive, relative to individuals who express more…”

“Hierarchies are not only omnipresent in human groups, but they also emerge quickly and spontaneously from limited social interactions (Anderson & Kilduff, 2009; Ridgeway, 1987; Ridgeway & Diekema, 1989; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003; van Vugt, 2006).”

“In contrast to the tendency of nonnative speakers to submit to dominant behaviors (Tiedens and Fragale 2003), highfluency speakers often intervened.”

“Tiedens and Fragale (2003) demonstrated not only a systematic preference for such hierarchical differentiation, but also that status differentiation appeared to be functional.”

“For example, Tiedens and Fragale (2003) found complementarity between dominant and submissive nonverbal behaviors within dyads and argued that such behaviors contribute to hierarchical differentiation.”

“, 1989; Mazur and Booth, 1998), linguistic and paralinguistic behavior (Dovidio and Ellyson, 1982; Hall et al., 2005; Tiedens and Fragale, 2003), as well as strategic social behavior and mood (Moskowitz, 1994).”

“…sciences (e.g., Simpson & Kenrick, 1997), functionalist models have gained particular prominence in recent work on leadership (Van Vugt, Hogan, & Kaiser, 2008), power (Magee & Galinsky, 2008), status (Anderson, Srivastava, Beer, Spataro, & Chatman, 2006), and dominance (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“…adjustment behaviors on a regular basis, and both are required for smooth and satisfying social interactions (Horowitz et al., 2006; Leary, 1957; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003), several studies have suggested that influence is more and adjustment is less salient and valued in American contexts than…”

“The postures participants were asked to pose were adopted from Tiedens and Fragale (2003). In the expansive-posture condition, participants were asked to place one arm on the armrest of the ergonomic chair and the other arm on the back of a nearby chair; they were also told to cross their legs such that the ankle of o…”

“Alternatively, however, people sometimes respond to others’ behaviour in contrasting, complementary ways (e.g., Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“In addition, socially engaged group members should be better positioned to engage in complementary behaviors (Orford, 1986) that enhance liking, trust, and coordinated performance (Maddux, Mullen, & Galinsky, 2008; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Although smiling and nodding can be signs of deference (Deutsch, 1990), overly friendly behaviors are also directed toward low-status others (Hall, 1984; Henley, 1977), because powerful individuals are freer in their expressions of affection toward low-status others (e.g., Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Beyond behavioral mimicry, more complex interpersonal mimicry such as mood contagion (see Neumann & Strack 2000) and dominance complementarity (see Tiedens & Fragale 2003) have also been documented.”

“Instead, dominance automatically triggers submissiveness and vice versa (Wiggins 1982; Tiedens & Fragale 2003).”

“…2002), emotions (Ebenback & Keltner, 1998), the expression of dispositions (Chen, Lee-Chai, & Bargh, 2001), non-verbal behaviour (Dovidio, Ellyson, Keating, & Heltman, 1988; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003), goal pursuit (Bargh & Raymond, 1995; Guinote, 2007a), and thought suppression (Guinote, 2007b).”

“Similarly, unfamiliar humans automatically display asymmetries in dominance behaviors in paired interactions, adopting either a dominant or submissive posture complementary to that exhibited by the other person (Markey, Funder, & Ozer, 2003; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“It has previously been shown that individuals in interaction show dominant behavior in response to submissive behavior of their interaction partner, and vice versa (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Consistent with the findings of Tiedens and Fragale (2003), even a subtle, nonverbal display of dominance, whether legitimate or not, may initiate a change reaction in targets to act in complementary, submissive ways that reinforce the negative nonverbal behaviors that they receive.”

“Tiedens and Fragale (2003) showed that individuals whose dominant or submissive nonverbal behavior was complemented felt more comfortable and liked their partner better than did those whose behavior was mimicked.”

“Whereas prestige typically garners more liking and social approval than does dominance, dominance sometimes elicits submission (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“One example is that mimicry of dominant behaviors to high social status targets makes the mimicker less liking and affiliation (Tiedens and Fragale, 2003).”

“…found that when participants work on a task with either another participant or a confederate, they will display behavior that complements their partner's behavior (Locke & Sadler, 2007; Markey, Funder, & Ozer, 2003; Sadler & Woody, 2003; Strong et al., 1988; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003; Tracey, 1994).”

“For example, adopting expanded postures induces subjective feelings of power and control (Huang et al. 2011; Riskind and Gotay 1982; Tiedens and Fragale 2003) and associated increases in testosterone and decreases in cortisol (Carney et al. 2010)—a unique neuroendocrine profile that underpins…”

“Jon K. Maner Matthew T. Gailliot David A. Butz B. Michelle Peruche Florida State University Keltner & Robinson, 1997; Overbeck & Park, 2001; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Power dispersion has been suggested by some to help (e.g., Keltner, Van Kleef, Chen, & Kraus, 2008; Magee & Galinsky, 2008; Sondak & Bazerman, 1991; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003) and by others to hurt group interactions (e.g., Bloom, 1999; Harrison & Klein, 2007; Henderson & Fredrickson, 2001; E. N.…”

“In humans, earlier work in psychology has noticed a phenomenon called complementarity, where, as opposed to mimicry, the respondent adopts an opposite, yet fitting postural behaviour (Tiedens and Fragale, 2003).”

“Moreover, by adopting the poses prior to the social evaluation, the high-power posers avoided violating social norms dictating that low-power individuals should display submissive behaviors in order to complement the position of the high-power evaluator (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“We calculated an efficiency score for each agreement according to the procedure proposed by Tripp and Sondak (1992) and used by Sondak et al.”

“…(e.g., larger size, erect posture, threat stares, assertive speech, expressed confidence) may be corollary features of social processing in primates, in general, and almost certainly in humans (Mazur 1985; Mignault & Chaudhuri 2003; Moors & De Houwer 2005; see also Tiedens & Fragale 2003).”

“Similarly, status differences may promote coordinated and complementary nonverbal behaviors in others that serve to reinforce the hierarchy and are related to more positive perceptions of the interaction (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“…2002; Rudman, Feinberg, & Fairchild, 2002), and people maintain interpersonal hierarchical differentiation by complementing the dominant or submissive posture of an interaction partner (by being more submissive or dominant, respectively) without awareness of doing so (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“They appeal to potential mates [56], intimidate rivals [17], elicit submissiveness [57], and guide social learning through imitation [58].”

“In fact, research has found that the manipulation of a relaxed, open, and expansive bodily posture compared with a tense, closed, and compressed bodily posture can influence perceived power in a situation (Carney et al., 2010; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Research has shown that when an individual exhibits either dominant or submissive posture, an interaction partner feels greater comfort and liking when complementing that posture rather than mirroring it (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“…traits such as extraversion (Anderson, John, Keltner, & Kring, 2001) and dominance (Anderson & Kilduff, 2009) to demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity; Ridgeway et al., 1985) to nonverbal behavior (e.g., engagement, status moves; Kraus & Keltner, 2009; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“This reflects the well-known principle of complementarity from Interpersonal Theory, according to which people tend to respond submissively to displays of power and vice versa (Carson, 1969; Sadler, Ethier, & Woody, 2011; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“In fact, early research (Ekman 1973; Ekman and Friesen 1975) indicates that we are inclined to attend and respond to other’s emotional cues in the form of their nonverbal behavior as a consequence of natural instinctual mechanisms—a kind of cultural socialization.”

“In adults, dominance is inferred from cues such as body posture (Freeman, Rule, Adams, & Ambady, 2009; Marsh, Blair, Jones, Soliman, & Blair, 2009; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003), emotional expression (Chiao et al., 2008; Haaker, Molapour, & Olsson, 2016; B. C. Jones, DeBruine, Little, Watkins, &…”

“The theory we present predicts the economic analogue of the dominance complementarity observed in postural relationship [31], where a dominant posture is likely to induce a submissive one, and vice-versa.”

“As exemplified above, such behaviors are shown in negotiations of power and status, are associated with assertiveness (Gitin, 1970), and may lead to others’ submission (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Recent research demonstrates that social interaction partners often showbehavioral complementarity with respect to power, that is dominance behavior of one person is often complemented (unconsciously) by submissive behavior of the partner (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003; Tiedens & Jimenez, 2003).”

“In contrast, studies of interactions with confederates have yielded mixed results—with some studies finding reciprocity (e.g., Tiedens & Fragale, 2003), others not finding reciprocity (e.g., Bluhm, Widiger, & Miele, 1990), and still others finding reciprocity for some types of dominance but not…”

“First, this perspective is rooted in research in social psychology, which suggests that an unconscious preference for hierarchy exists (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003) because of the comfort it gives in prioritizing and clarifying information and interactions (Halevy et al., 2011; Zitek & Tiedens, 2012).”

“In healthy and successful social systems, nonverbal cues of power are responded to with nonverbal cues that signify submission (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003; Tracy, Shariff, Zhao, & Henrich, 2013).”

“On the other hand, research on interpersonal dominance has shown that a display of dominance is likely to be met by a display of submission (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“These lower-status behaviors include automatically following social norms (Howell and Shamir, 2005; Keltner et al., 2003), refraining from showing true emotions, and restricting body movements (Ellyson and Dovidio, 1985; Keltner et al., 1998; Menges et al., 2015; Tiedens and Fragale, 2003).”

“People report higher levels of liking and greater feelings of comfort when their social behavior is complementary, that is, when one person displays dominance and the other displays submissiveness (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“A large body of research suggests that humans reliably communicate high rank to conspecifics using two overlapping sets of nonverbal behaviors (Hall et al., 2005; Shariff & Tracy, 2009; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003; Tracy & Matsumoto, 2008).”

“3 Research on dominance complementarity supports the idea that upward or downward interactions can trigger a relatively low or high sense of power, respectively (Goldstein & Hays, 2011; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“Kiesler and Auerbach 2003 ; Tiedens and Fragale 2003 ).”

“Participants were introduced to two characters that were in a reciprocal bodily positioning of expansion (erect posture) and constriction (head-down posture), which are easily identified by adults as valid cues for dominance and submissiveness (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003; see Figure 1).”

“…a diverse and broader suite of cost-minimizing behavioral cues, that function to signal one's willingness to inflict costs on competitors, and consequently to enhance or dampen the signaler's apparent threat (Dovidio et al., 1988; Fournier et al., 2002; Marsh et al., 2014; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“For instance, Tiedens and Fragale (2003) showed that the perception of behaviors that are associated with high- or low-status individuals may nonconsciously lead to adoption of an opposite pattern of behaviors.”

“In sum, status conflict can intensify competition and interpersonal tension among team members, urging them to stay alert to potential status threats and act assertively to defend their status (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”

“, 2008) and social control behaviour (e.g. you dominate and I submit; Tiedens and Fragale, 2003).”

“One of the most widely cited findings in the literature is that open, expansive body postures reflect power and dominance (e.g., Darwin, 1872/2009; de Waal, 1998; Ellyson & Dovidio, 1985; Hall, Coats, & LeBeau, 2005; Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).”