Resident advantage as social role performance

Past research and theory on territorial dominance and resident advantage (RA) explains the resident's dominance over an outsider as arising from the place in which the interaction occurs (the host's turf). The present study evaluates the relative explanatory value of social role factors vs. that of place in accounting for RA. Fifty‐eight subjects answered questionnaires simulating four interactions, host with guest (HG), host with host (HH), guest with host (GH) and guest with guest (GG). Interactions involving reciprocal roles (GH and HG) were taken to indicate the contribution of role and place, while the other interactions (HH and GG) indicate the effect of place alone. Subtracting the effect of place from that of role and place reveals the contribution of social role. The data showed social role factors to have greater impact than did place. Social role analysis also helps understand moderating variables such as familiarity‐unfamiliarity and agreement‐disagreement between the interactants. 1987 The British Psychological Society