The question of social hierarchies and their effect on health was studied in baboon troops by Sapolsky (1990, 2005) and in British civil servants by Marmot et al (1997). However, in both cases the research was correlational in nature, leaving open the question of whether one"s position in the hierarchy affects one"s levels of cortisol and health, or whether one"s health and stress response patterns lead to their position...