According to a study conducted by the researchers from Harvard University, infants who are not even one year old are able to understand the unwritten concept of social dominance. They make use of relative sizes for predicting the prevalence of one when two individuals work for a single goal.

The finding has been published in the latest issue of the journal Science. L,ead author Lotte Thomson says the work indicates that humans are either borne with or programmed to develop at an early stage the understanding of dominance and its relation with relative size.

This is a kind of correlation that is ubiquitous across animal, kingdom in general and human cultures in particular.

Thomson says, “Traditional kings and chieftains sit on large, elevated thrones and wear elaborate crowns or robes that make them look bigger than they really are, and subordinates often bow or kneel to show respect to superior humans and gods.” He also says, “Many animals, like birds and cats, will puff themselves up to look physically larger to an adversary, and prostrate themselves to demonstrate submission, like dogs do. Our work suggests that even with limited socialization, preverbal human infants may understand such displays.”