Data set for: Behavioral traits that define social dominance are the same that reduce social influence in a consensus task

Dominant individuals are often most influential in their social groups,
affecting movement, opinion, and performance across species and contexts.
Yet behavioral traits like aggression, intimidation, and coercion, which
are associated with and in many cases define dominance, can be socially
aversive. The traits that make dominant individuals influential in one
context may therefore reduce their influence in other contexts. Here we
examine this association between dominance and influence using the cichlid
fish Astatotilapia burtoni, comparing the influence of dominant and
subordinate males during normal social interactions and in a more complex
group-consensus association task. We find that phenotypically dominant
males are aggressive, socially central, and that these males have a strong
influence over normal group movement, whereas subordinate males are
passive, socially peripheral, and have little influence over normal
movement. However, subordinate males have the greatest influence in
generating group-consensus during the association task. Dominant males are
spatially distant and have lower signal-to-noise ratios of informative
behavior in the association task, potentially interfering with their
ability to generate group-consensus. In contrast, subordinate males are
physically close to other group members, have a high signal-to-noise ratio
of informative behavior, and equivalent visual connectedness to their
group as dominant males. The behavioral traits that define effective
social influence are thus highly context-specific and can be dissociated
with social dominance. Thus, processes of hierarchical ascension in which
the most aggressive, competitive, or coercive individuals rise to
positions of dominance may be counter-productive in contexts where
group-performance is prioritized.