Male bosses act like monkeys to assert authority

In every work environment, bosses, like dominant animals, mark out their territory, assert their authority and display power, researchers concluded after interviewing hundreds of managers and employees.

Managers will also wear dark suits with bright shirts or ties in much the same way an animal flaunts their brightly coloured body parts. While in the wild it is to attract a mate, in the office, it is about asserting your place in the hierarchy.

Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite, who led the study, said: "From an evolutionary point of view, about 200 species are known to strut and puff out their chests. Homo sapiens evolved over two million years to be tribal and hierarchical, and it's really not much different from other species at the evolutionary, biological level. Perhaps it's imprinted on our genes."

The study, published in Australia's Journal of Health Organisation and Management, says managers will tend to have bigger chairs than everyone else, speak more loudly and interrupt more frequently. They also lace their speech with management jargon and acronyms, in order to confuse people. Professor Braithwaite added: "What we found was universal animalistic displays of power, masculinity, sexuality and authority that seem to be hard-wired in."