In evolutionary psychology and evolutionary anthropology, dual strategies theory states humans increase their status in social hierarchies using two major strategies known as dominance and prestige.
The first and oldest of the two strategies, dominance, is exemplified by the use of force, implied force or other forms of coercion to take social power. The second of the two strategies, prestige, is defined as an approach in which an individual gains social rank through demonstrating traits valued by other group members such as high levels of skill, generosity or the ability to teach their skills to others.
It has been suggested that rather than represent two unique strategies, dominance and prestige should be seen as two distinct groups of strategies with different sub-strategies within each of the two major categories. While distinct, the two strategies both enable people to gain social standing and maintain it over time. The distinction between the two is that social rank from prestige is freely conferred by group members which is not the case with dominance.
History
Henrich and Gil-White built on social exchange theory to develop the idea of prestige as conveyed social status and respect in exchange for expertise. This was contrasted with dominance where social status is taken rather than freely conveyed. The two strategies are distinct pathways from each other but both equally viable routes to gain status in human social hierarchies.
Dominance
The oldest of the two strategies, Dominance is identified with a desire for authority, control, and power. It is associated with tactics that include the use of force, threat, selfish withholding of resources and general intimidation. Dominance is a status gaining strategy that has been observed in many species including primates and particularly chimpanzees who are one of the closest primate species genetically to humans. In humans, dominance is also associated with negative personality traits such as hubristic pride less focus on others, and a reduction in prosocial behaviors. Dominance is less stable than prestige in human as followers can resist and coordinate to reduce or suppress the dominant leader's power.
Prestige
Prestige is identified with a desire for the admiration, respect, and elevated status. It is associated with tactics that include freely sharing desirable traits, expertise, collaboration, and moral grandstanding in order to gain higher social status. Prestige is linked to positive traits such as authentic pride. Prestige appears to be unique to humans and the development of prestige is linked to the development of larger and more intricate social structures. Prestige based leadership is more stable and long term as it produces mutually beneficial outcomes for followers and the leader.
Examples
Mating
Analogous to male-dominated hierarchies in other species of primates, human women prefer to mate with high-status human men; resulting in men of higher status gaining more sexual access to women compared to men of lower status. This has contributed to the existence of polygyny around the world all throughout human history, a mating system which typically consists of high-status men such as kings, emperors, and tribal chiefs being married to multiple wives or having sexual relations with multiple concubines. In modern Westernized societies that embrace monogamy, high-status men take advantage of their increased sexual access to women in the form of cheating, multiple short-term sex partners, or serial marriages. In various studies, married men who score higher on social dominance admit to having more extramarital affairs. The link between a man's social status and his sexual access to women has remained highly consistent throughout human history despite changes in culture and civilization, which suggests a powerful evolutionary pressure behind the tendency of men to engage in status-seeking behavior more frequently than women.
Men with higher incomes and status tend to have more frequent sex and a higher number of children. A 2012 study found that men in supervisory positions in businesses had more children compared to their subordinates. Even within universities, a 2005 study found that male academics with high status positions had more children compared to other male employees.