What influences the relational dynamics between high-ranking leaders and their lower-ranking group members? What causes some leaders, more than others, to selfishly wield their power in ways that undermine their group? How does the motivation to maintain one’s social prominence sway leaders’ decisions and affect the way they treat their followers? What strategies do lower-ranking group members use to advance their own hierarchical standing, and how they might protect themselves from highly dominant leaders? Our work on the relational dynamics between leaders and followers aims to address questions like these.

How do mentors and mentees navigate their respective roles within their mentoring relationship? When is the hierarchical divide between mentors and mentees most salient, and when do mentoring relationships operate more like a partnership among equals? What motivates mentors to devote time, energy, and resources to their mentees, and how do their underlying motives shape the types of support they offer? What types of mentees tend to receive the most support from their mentors, and why? A central aim of our research into mentoring relationships is to answer questions like these.

When, why, and how do people strive to form and maintain coalitions within social hierarchies? How does being higher versus lower in the hierarchy affect one’s desire to form strong connections with others? What are the circumstances that cause high-ranking people to prioritize their relational standing with their lower-ranking group members? How do people leverage their coalitional relationships as a means to further their own position within their group’s hierarchy? Answering these types of questions is a central aim of our work on cross-hierarchy coalitions.