We present observational results that demonstrate a strong increase in the
dynamic behavior of magnetic elements at the solar photosphere, when observ
ed at high spatial and tem poral resolution. The HAO/NSO Advanced Stokes Po
larimeter was used to obtain an extensive set of high resolution Stokes-V s
pectra from network, intranetwork and active region magnetic fields at a lo
w noise level. We performed a statistical analysis of Doppler shifts and as
ymmetries of the V spectra of FeI 630.15 and 630.25 nm to obtain informatio
n on the dynamics of magnetic elements of different sizes. The spatial reso
lution of 0.8-1 arcsec in combination with high polarimetric precision allo
wed us to investigate Stokes-V spectra of magnetic elements down to a size
of approximate to 150 km. The Doppler velocity within magnetic elements as
well as the amplitude and area asymmetries of the Stokes-V profiles show a
strong dependence on the size of the magnetic elements as well as on the gr
anular velocity in their vicinity. Applying an absolute velocity calibratio
n we find that the smallest magnetic features have velocities of up to 5 km
s(-1) in both up- and downflows whereas for larger elements or clusters of
several flux tubes the velocities become smaller and more uniform. The V-p
rofile asymmetries are larger (both positive and negative) for small fill f
raction than for higher fill fraction within the resolution element. Averag
ed over all individual profiles, there remains a positive amplitude and are
a asymmetry and a downflow exceeding 0.5 km s(-1). The properties of spatia
lly and temporally integrated V profiles are consistent with results from F
TS-observations. Our observations are in qualitative agreement with results
from numerical MHD simulations.