Hierarchical stress is harder to track in humans due the the fact that they can excel in at least one hierarchy they’re apart of
Although hierarchically subordinate animals tend to be over-stressed due to uncontrollable and unpredictable mistreatment from superiors, humans can belong to a number of different ranking systems simultaneously, and ideally are excelling in at least one of them (and thus, may be giving the greatest psychological weight to that one). So, the lowly subordinate in the mailroom of the big corporation may, after hours, be deriving tremendous prestige and self-esteem from being the deacon of their church, or the captain of their weekend baseball team, or may be at the top of the class at the adult-extension school. One person’s highly empowering dominance hierarchy may be a mere 9-to-5 irrelevancy to the person in the next cubicle, and this will greatly skew results.
References
- Sapolsky, Robert. (2004). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers Chapter 17. The View from the Bottom (p. 505). New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Social Psychology Status:☀️