ABSTRACT
Hierarchies come into existence mediated by a unique form of social negotiation. Typically far more violent than the relatively tepid conflicts from which social roles emerge, they rivet the attention of the participants and leave indelible traces. Hierarchies are zero-sum games. There are always winners and losers. Whereas roles can be reciprocal, ranks are less so. With ranks, this is rarely the case. One of the cliches of modern business is that all parties to a decision should seek synergistic solutions from which all profit, but this cannot be so with ranks. Hierarchies are also transitive. If alpha is better than beta, and beta is better than gamma, then alpha is better than gamma. This is the familiar phenomenon of rank ordering. Role negotiations entail mutual influence between partners who may not always be fair or gentle, whereas ranks emerge from clashes that tend to be more severe and therefore more emotional.
