There are undoubtedly times in our professional lives when we might agree with a statement in public but disagree with it in private. Research from Paris Sciences et Lettres University suggests that whether we do this or not often depends on the dominance of the speaker. Indeed, the very fact that the speaker can utter something quite blunt is enough to signify their status and dominance.

The authors suggest that when someone speaks a blunt statement it clearly says a lot about their personality, and such people are often perceived as being more dominant than those for whom the audience will automatically agree.

Provocative statements

The researchers wanted to better understand why people make provocative statements. They conducted a couple of experiments involving several hundred volunteers, all of whom were asked to read about a fictional person, called Allan, who was talking to his colleagues in various situations.

In the stories, Allan would either conform to the audience’s opinion or contradict it, and the stories would conclude with colleagues then either rejecting Allan’s comments or agreeing with them. The volunteers were asked to assess the various characteristics Allan had, from his kindness and warmth to his cleverness and dominance.

While some scenarios were fairly benign, such as whether Messi or Ronaldo was the better footballer, others were far more overtly offensive to particular ethnic groups. In either scenario, the results were similar in that there was a perceived dominance when the audience accepts what is ordinarily a challenging statement.

The researchers remind us, however, that using blunt statements to signal our dominance carries costs as such displays also tend to result in the speaker being viewed as cold, which can ultimately harm their reputation among their followers.

“If bystanders infer dominance from hearing challenging statements, this offers a way for people to assert their dominance. Our findings open up the possibility that people who are keen to display their dominance might choose to utter challenging or even offensive statements,” the researchers say.

“Indeed, people who seek status specifically via dominance (but not those pursuing prestige) are particularly likely to engage in offensive forms of political expression.”