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Social Authority

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 758 Accesses

Synonyms

Dominance; Leadership; Power; Social rank; Social status

Definition

Social authority is an individual or institution that has legal power and control in a social system or makes decisions and enforces rules.

Introduction

In hunter-gatherer societies, living in a group is more adaptive than living alone. Groups are better able to cope with natural disasters, such as earthquake and famine, and social problems, such as fighting against intruders and predators, than individuals. Thus, in the evolutionary past - and in contemporary human societies - being a member of a group had survival value and offered reproductive advantages (Baumeister and Leary 1995; Kenrick et al. 2010). In addition, members of a group may encounter recurrent problems that not every member can solve alone. These problems create pressure and circumstances favorable to the emergence of a social authority composed of experienced individuals who can lead and help other group members to solve problems. Following...

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References

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529.

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  • Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Neuberg, S. L., & Schaller, M. (2010). Renovating the pyramid of needs: Contemporary extensions built upon ancient foundations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 292–314.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Spisak, B. R., Nicholson, N., & van Vugt, M. (2011). Leadership in organizations: An evolutionary perspective. In G. Saad (Ed.), Evolutionary psychology in business sciences (pp. 165–190). Heidelberg: Springer.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Bin-Bin Chen

Authors
  1. Bin-Bin Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bin-Bin Chen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Menelaos Apostolou

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

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Chen, BB. (2018). Social Authority. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1086-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1086-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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