sterfulness in it, for he not only likes to see things
perform, but he likes to be the one that makes them perform. If he has
a horn, he is not satisfied till he can sound it himself. The man with
his automobile is in the same case. When it balks, he is stimulated to
overcome it; but when it runs smoothly for him, he has a sense of
mastery and power that is highly gratifying. Chopping down a big tree,
or moving a big rock with a crowbar, affords the same kind of
gratification; and so does cutting with a sharp knife, or shooting
with a good bow or gun, or operating any tool or machine that
increases one's power. Quite apart from the utility of the result
accomplished, any big achievement is a source of satisfaction to the
one who has done it, because it gives play to aggressive
self-assertion. Many {165} great achievements are motived as much by
the zest for achievement as by calculation of the advantages to be
secured.

4. Seeking to dominate other people. The individual not simply resists
domination by other people, but he seeks to dominate them himself.
Even the baby gives orders and demands obedience. Get a number of
children together, and you will see more than one of them attempt to
be the leader in their play. Some must necessarily be followers just
now, but they will attempt to take the lead on another occasion. The
"born leader" is perhaps one who has an exceptionally strong dose of
masterfulness in his make-up, but he is, still more, one who has
abilities, physical or mental, that give him the advantage in the
universal struggle for leadership.

Besides giving orders and taking the lead, there are other ways in
which the child finds satisfaction for his instinct to dominate.
Showing off is one, bragging is one, doing all the talking is one;
and, though in growing older and mixing with people the child becomes
less naive in his manner of bragging and showing off, he continues
even as an adult to reach the same end in more subtle ways. Going
about to win applause or social recognition is a seeking for
domination. Anything in which one can surpass another becomes a means
of self-assertion. One may demonstrate his superiority in size,
strength, beauty, skill, cleverness, virtue, good humor,
cooeperativeness, or even humility, and derive satisfaction from any
such demonstration. The impulse to dominate assumes literally a
thousand disguises, more rather than less.

_Rivalry_ and _emulation_, sometimes accorded a