Dominance in a human adolescent group.

Primatological concepts and methods are applied to a 5-week, naturalistic observational study of six 13-year-old boys in a summer camp. The purpose is to illustrate similarities between a human adolescent group and other primate groups in the establishment and stability of a dominance hierarchy, indices and frequencies of dominance interactions, and characteristics of dominance relations. A hierarchy was evident after 3 days of camp and remained operative throughout the 5 weeks, becoming more stable over time. The dominance rank-order was significantly related to athletic ability, leadership, and bed position but not to trail position, popularity, body surface area, and physical maturity. The possible social effects of the dominance hierarchy are also discussed.