Interpersonal relationship

==Power and dominance==
{{See also|Expressions of dominance}}
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2016}}
[[Power (social and political)|Power]] is the ability to influence the behavior of other people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fiske |first=S. T |last2=Berdahl |first2=J. |date=2007 |title=Social power. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer-Berdahl/publication/232589326_Social_power/links/0c96052d99bccb4bcb000000/Social-power.pdf |journal=Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles |publisher=The Guilford Press |pages=678–692}}</ref> When two parties have or assert unequal levels of power, one is termed "dominant" and the other "submissive". [[Expressions of dominance]] can communicate an intention to assert or maintain dominance in a relationship. Being submissive can be beneficial because it saves time, limits emotional stress, and may avoid hostile actions such as withholding of resources, cessation of cooperation, termination of the relationship, maintaining a grudge, or even physical violence. Submission occurs in different degrees; for example, some employees may follow orders without question, whereas others might express disagreement but concede when pressed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunbar |first1=Norah E. |last2=Abra |first2=Gordon |title=Observations of Dyadic Power in Interpersonal Interaction |journal=Communication Monographs |date=December 2010 |volume=77 |issue=4 |pages=657–684 |doi=10.1080/03637751.2010.520018 |s2cid=144799977 }}</ref>

Groups of people can form a [[dominance hierarchy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aiello |first=Antonio |last2=Tesi |first2=Alessio |date=November 19, 2022 |title="Does this setting really fit with me?”: How support for group-based social hierarchies predicts a higher perceived misfit in hierarchy-attenuating settings |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12949|journal=Journal of Applied Social Psychology |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=423 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref> For example, a [[hierarchical organization]] uses a [[command hierarchy]] for top-down management. This can reduce time wasted in conflict over unimportant decisions, prevents inconsistent decisions from harming the operations of the organization, maintain alignment of a large population of workers with the goals of the owners (which the workers might not personally share) and, if promotion is based on merit, help ensure that the people with the best expertise make important decisions. This contrasts with [[group decision-making]] and systems which encourage decision-making and self-organization by front-line employees, who in some cases may have better information about customer needs or how to work efficiently. Dominance is only one aspect of [[organizational structure]].

A [[power structure]] describes power and dominance relationships in a larger society. For example, a [[feudalism|feudal]] society under a [[monarchy]] exhibits a strong dominance hierarchy in both economics and physical power, whereas dominance relationships in a society with [[democracy]] and [[capitalism]] are more complicated.

In business relationships, dominance is often associated with [[economic power]]. For example, a business may adopt a submissive attitude to customer preferences (stocking what customers want to buy) and complaints ("the customer is always right") in order to earn more money. A firm with [[monopoly power]] may be less responsive to customer complaints because it can afford to adopt a dominant position. In a business [[partnership]] a "silent partner" is one who adopts a submissive position in all aspects, but retains financial ownership and a share of the profits.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Habib |first1=Farooq |last2=Bastl |first2=Marko |last3=Pilbeam |first3=Colin |title=Strategic responses to power dominance in buyer-supplier relationships: A weaker actor's perspective |journal=International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management |date=2 March 2015 |volume=45 |issue=1/2 |pages=182–203 |id={{ProQuest|2115748306}} |doi=10.1108/IJPDLM-05-2013-0138 }}</ref>

Two parties can be dominant in different areas. For example, in a friendship or romantic relationship, one person may have strong opinions about where to eat dinner, whereas the other has strong opinions about how to decorate a shared space. It could be beneficial for the party with weak preferences to be submissive in that area because it will not make them unhappy and avoids conflict with the party that would be unhappy.

The [[breadwinner model]] is associated with [[gender role]] assignments where the male in a heterosexual marriage would be dominant as they are responsible for economic provision.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nadim |first=Marjan |date=January 29, 2015 |title=Undermining the Male Breadwinner Ideal? Understandings of Women’s Paid Work among Second-Generation Immigrants in Norway |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038514560259 |journal=Sociology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=109-124 |via=Sage Journals}}</ref>