Social dominance in relation to other putative basic emotions in humans

Van der Westhuizen, Donné

Social dominance in relation to other putative basic emotions in humans

Master Thesis

2013

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

There is a significant body of research within the general neurosciences that has begun to investigate a behavioural state in animals and humans, which appears to suggest the existence of a ‘social dominance instinct’. One such finding is that across mammalian species, groups of cohabiting animals reliably organise themselves into dominance hierarchies characterised by differential allocation of social and resource holding power, and that testosterone and cortisol appear to underpin these social mechanisms. While the literature is considerable, the emotional aspects of this intrinsic tendency have received less attention, and systematic attempts to ascertain to what extent the neural circuitry, and its associated affects and behaviours, can be accommodated within the primary emotional taxonomy proposed by Panksepp (1998) have not been undertaken. Based on the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS), developed to measure the relative influence of basic affective systems on human temperamental variability, this research used hormone assays and factor analytic methods to explore the latent structure of the ANPS when DOMINANCE items are included.

Description

Includes bibliographical references.

Keywords

Psychology

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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