Sex Differences in the Evaluation and Performance of Dominant Acts

Bakan conceptualizes two major modes of existence: agency and communion. In the agentic (masculine) mode, the individual is concerned with self-protection, self-assertion, and self-enhancement. Communion involves concern with the larger group of which one is a part. Two studies were conducted to explore these distinctions in the domain of dominance. In the first study, subjects (n = 57) evaluated 100 acts, previously and independently nominated as dominant, on their social desirability. Male raters judged self-enhancing and self-asserting acts (e.g., flattering someone to get one's way) as relatively more desirable than did female raters, who judged group-oriented, communal acts (e.g., introducing a speaker at a meeting) as more desirable. The second study (« = 83) examined sex differences in the behaviors that express dominance. Dominant men tend to express their dominance through both communal and agentic acts, whereas dominant women tend to express dominance primarily through group-oriented actions. These results lend support to the agency/communion conceptualization and suggest sex-linked differentiation of dominant behavior.