Abstract: In previous papers (Theraulaz et al. 1995, Bonabeau et al. 1996) we suggested, following Hogeweg and Hesper (1983, 1985), that the formation of dominance orders in animal societies could result from a selforganizing process involving a double reinforcement mechanism: winners reinforce their probability of winning and losers reinforce their probability of losing. This assumption, and subsequent models, were based on empirical data on primitively eusocial wasps (Polistes dominulus). By...