The Psychology of Social Status (PDF)

Given the far-reaching effects of status on human societies, understanding the psychology of social status is crucial. Across all societies, differences in social rank or status not only determine who leads and who follows, but also the ways in which individuals resolve conflicts, allocate goods and resources, and coordinate to achieve shared group goals.

The Psychology of Social Status outlines the foundational insights, key advances, and developments that have been made in the field thus far. The goal of this volume is to provide an in-depth exploration of the psychology of human status, by reviewing each of the major lines of theoretical and empirical work that have been conducted in this vein. Organized thematically, the volume covers the following areas:

- An overview of several prominent overarching theoretical perspectives that have shaped much of the current research on social status.

- Examination of the personality, demographic, situational, emotional, and cultural underpinnings of status attainment, addressing questions about why and how people attain status.

- Identification of the intra- and inter-personal benefits and costs of possessing and lacking status.

- Emerging research on the biological and bodily manifestation of status attainment

- A broad review of available research methods for measuring and experimentally manipulating social status

¿A key component of this volume is its interdisciplinary focus. Research on social status cuts across a variety of academic fields, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, organizational science others; thus the chapter authors are drawn from a similarly wide-range of disciplines. Encompassing the current state of knowledge in a thriving and proliferating field, The Psychology of Social Status is a fascinating and comprehensive resource for researchers, students, policy-makers, and others interested in learning about the complex nature of social status, hierarchy, dominance, and power.