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“Leaders do not recognize authority, do not value the opinions of others, and always leave the decision to themselves.” Is this really true – and is it possible to dominate while remaining empathetic?
The dominant personality type is determined primarily by the desire to control the situation, and in some cases, other people. Therefore, a person prone to dominance seems to us tough, aggressive, ignoring the opinions of others. But an amazing fact was revealed – dominants can be very sociable and pleasant people. Especially when they need it to achieve their goal.
Study author Jennifer Cook from the University of Nijmegen (Netherlands) explains that even in the animal kingdom, the leader of the group becomes the one who has the most developed abilities for social adaptation. In humans, the dominant personality type is divided into two varieties – depending on the susceptibility to the opinions of others.
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- See yourself beyond stereotypes
To learn how to interact with a dominant personality, it is important to understand which of the two varieties it belongs to – “social” or “aggressive”. A study in which participants answered questions about their dominance style helped prioritize each. High scores when choosing the statement “I provoke people to contact each other” spoke about the socially dominant type of leader. High scores for the answer “I like it when people obey me” characterized the opposite group – aggressively dominant leaders. Computer testing of the participants in the experiment determined whether the leaders use the experience of other people or rely only on their own *.
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- Power reveals … and virtues too
The results of the study destroyed the stereotype about the impossibility of influencing the decisions of leaders. It turned out that leaders who are prone to social adaptation value their independence in decision-making, but when performing complex tasks, they are willing to take into account the opinions of others. Aggressively dominant leaders did not allow themselves to rely on someone else’s opinion, even if it turned out to be valid**.
* J. Cook, H. den Ouden, C. Heyes, R. Cools «Dominant people can be surprisingly social», Radboud University, November 2014.
** J. Cook, H. den Ouden, C. Heyes, R. Cools «The Social Dominance Paradox», Сurrent Biology, 2014.
