The dominance dilemma: Do women really prefer dominant mates?

Previous research has led to a widely accepted conclusion that heterosexual women prefer mates who are high in dominance. Three experiments designed to distinguish dominance from prestige and examine moderating contextual factors challenge this conclusion. College women at 2 U.S. universities evaluated hypothetical, potential mates described in written vignettes. Participants in Study 1 preferred a high‐prestige to a high‐dominance target. With dominance and prestige manipulated independently in Study 2, participants preferred high to low prestige but also preferred low to high dominance. Participants in Study 3 preferred high to low dominance, but only (a) when displayed in the context of an athletic competition and (b) in ratings of attractiveness and desirability as a short‐term (vs. long‐term) mate.     

EQUIVOCATION: CHARACTER INSURANCE

This study investigated the effects of equivocation (deliberate vagueness) on source credibility (competence and character), agreement, and perceived vagueness. The results indicated that the equivocated message produced significantly higher character ratings for the speaker than did the clearly stated disagreeable message, but there was no significant difference for the competence ratings. The equivocated message also produced significantly more agreement than the clear message. These findings, as well as others, led the researchers to conclude that equivocating disagreeable arguments helps preserve credibility—most notably the character ratings; and that character is the best predictor of message agreement. The results were interpreted in terms of information processing theory, suggesting that equivocated messages evoke meanings which are congruent with prior experience and attitudes. In contrast to the tenet advocated since antiquity that all issues should be addressed clearly, this study indicates that under certain circumstances the speaker can enhance effectiveness by using the rhetorical technique of deliberate vagueness.     

THE LEGALIST SCHOOL1 AND LEGAL POSITIVISM2

Law is the authoritative principle for the people and is the basis of government; it is what shapes the people.
The Book of Lord Shang, Chap. V, Par. 26.
If the people be led by laws and controlled by punishments, they will try to evade them but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue and controlled by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame and will moreover attain character.
Analects, book ii, Chap. iii
Lcgge, Vol. 1. p. 146