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A Dominance Hierarchy is an organizational scheme by which individuals within a community control the distribution of resources(goods and services)within the community.Most primates live in groups and form "dominance hierarchies." Individuals with greater hierarchical status tend to displace those ranked lower from space, from food, and from mating opportunities. Thus higher status individuals tend to have greater reproductive success by mating more often and having more resources to invest in the survival of offspring.
These hierarchies are not fixed and depend on any number of changing factors, among them are age, gender, intelligence, and aggressiveness. Status may also be affected by the ability to marshal the support of others. Indeed, the need to maintain social position and social knowledge may be an impetus for the evolution of larger brains in humans.
