Pecking
Order Simulation Game
Background
Dominance structure is an important feature of how
Whooping Cranes relate to members of their species. Have you noticed
that Pecking
order,
or the urge to fit into social hierarchies, is also powerful
in humans? For
example, the armed forces depend upon a hierarchical structure for
efficiency
and discipline. We see hierarchical stuctures in corporations and
other organizations as well as in peer groups and on playgrounds.
Sometimes
a person so badly wants a higher place in that hierarchy that they
turn
into a bully. Most of us can give examples of how bullying
behavior affects our lives, or lives of people we know. Luckily,
we humans have the ability to reason through this and find much
more
peaceful ways of settling our disputes. Such discussions are a valuable
part of the preparation and follow-up for this simulation game about
pecking order.
Main Idea
In this
game, each person will find their place in a "pecking order"
based on
the value of a playing card, which they will chose at random. The
highest ranking card is a king, followed by queen, jack, 10, 9,
8, 7, 6,
5,
4, 3, 2, 1, and Ace.
Materials
One deck of playing cards
Directions
- Each
player choses a playing card. WITHOUT looking at it,
each places
the card above their forehead so that others can see it.
- The
players interact with one another for 5 minutes. The
goal is to interact
with people who are at the top of the pecking order. However,
players do not know the hierarchical value of their own card.
They can
only
guess this by the way others react to them.
- At
the end of the 5 minutes, and still without having seen
their own card,
each player lines up according to the place they perceive
they fall in the pecking order.
- Finally,
all players look at their cards and check to see how closely
the line
formed based on everyone's perceptions.