Student brinkmanship in residence halls, resident assistant (RA) leadership, and residence social climate are discussed. In "brinking" the system, students challenge authority in ways that provide scant grounds for the institution to apply punishment. The study looks at relationships between: the RA's leadership behavior and student perceptions of brinkmanship; student perceptions of social climate and brinkmanship in the residence hall environment; RA leadership and residence hall climate; and RA attitudes toward student brinkmanship, student attitudes about brinkmanship, RA leadership, and residence hall social climate. Study participants were from residence halls of a major public university. Findings include: there is an inverse relationship between resident perceptions of student brinkmanship frequency and RA leadership behavior involving consideration and initiating structure; resident perceptions of frequent, hostile brinkmanship are inversely related to resident perceptions that the residence social climate is supportive of individual needs and institutional role expectations; student perceptions of RA leadership behavior characterized by consideration and initiating structure are positively related to their perceptions that the residence social climate is supportive of individual needs and institutional role expectations; and there is an inverse relationship between RA perceptions of brinkmanship frequency and the degree to which students view the residence social climate and RA leadership as supportive of individual needs and institutional role expectations. Contains 25 references. (SM)