Status Dissimilarity Literature Review

Improved Essays
THEORETICAL FOUNDATION AND HYPOTHSES
Status and status dissimilarity
People pursue status in social groups (Anderson & Kilduff, 2009). Firstly, what is status? In the existing literature, quite a lot of overlaps exist with the definitions of status. Among them, respect is widely recognized as indicators of peoples’ position and status within social collectives (Anderson & Kilduff, 2009; Bendersky & Shah, 2013). Thus, to put it explicitly, status is defined as the respect ones receive from others in a social collective. Individuals’ status tells whether the focal persons are accepted and valued by group member. Based on relational demography perspective (Tsui, Egan, & O'Reilly, 1992), I define status dissimilarity as the extent to which an
…show more content…
Based on Affective Event Theory (AET, Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996), it is proposed that status dissimilarity could exert impacts on emotions, since individual status matters in terms of self-esteem, and self-esteem is believed to be closely associated with particular emotions that pertain to how people feel about themselves (Brown & Marshall, 2001).
The job-related affective well-being model (Russell, 1980; Warr, 1987; Van Katwyk, Fox, Spector & Kelloway, 2000), categorizing human’s emotional response into to two bipolar dimensions of pleasure and arousal, is considered here to capture individuals’ affective response to status-dissimilar others. In this model, pleasure refers to the valence of emotional actions, ranging from positive side to negative side. And arousal refers to the intensity of emotional actions, ranging from high to low (Lane, Chua, & Dolan, 1999). This model clearly identifies four sets of emotions: high pleasure and high arousal (HPHA) (e.g., excited), high pleasure and low arousal (HPLA) (e.g., calm), low pleasure and high arousal (LPHA) (e.g., angry), and low pleasure and low arousal (LPLA) (e.g., gloomy). And the job-related affective well-being model has been empirically supported (Van Katwyk et al.,
…show more content…
In the relational demography literature, usually, individuals with relatively high status-latent characteristics, such as male, and White, are inclined to react more saliently compared with their counterparts, such as female, and non-White, to the dissimilarity in the corresponding characteristics. For example, sex dissimilarity has stronger effects on men rather than on women in terms of their identification to the work groups and perceived conflicts within groups (Chattopadhyay, George & Shulman, 2008; Chattopadyhay, George & Lawrence, 2004). Following this reasoning, for higher status members and lower status members, the effects of status dissimilarity on their affective responses are different. Higher status members respond negatively to status dissimilarity, because they view working with lower status members, as a threat to their self-esteem, and believe that lower status members downplay the positivity of the group prototype. On the other hand, lower-status persons are likely to be sensitive to the potential gains by working with higher-status members, such as enhancing their image by being grouped together with higher-status members, although they may realize some drawbacks of being the relatively lower status members in the group, such as being neglected or devalued. Therefore, it is proposed that higher status members have a more vigorously affective response to status dissimilarity than the lower status

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    This text is a reminder to me of the affect that social class has on how people are treated and respected. Because I know this situation all too well, I do agree with the authors purpose and objective.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The impression we are visible to, gives us the chance to label others. Examining the main issues Fussell’s argues that social class and social status can be…

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social Class and Its Division: Is it Really That Simple? Paul Fussell, Thomas Gorman, Lars Eighner, and the authors of “Having Less, Giving More: The Influence of Social Class on Prosocial Behavior” all contest the popular notion that the division of social class is simple and based on economic status. Not only do the authors suggest their own theories as to what separates each social class from the next, but the authors all seem to have the same general idea that the social class system is more complex than previously suggested. Some even take a step further and suggest that members may have more in common with those on opposite ends of the spectrum than with those in the class directly below or above themselves.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social class is a major determining factor of accomplishment in most educational, employment and social arenas. Social class is currently still one of the best predictors of who will achieve success, prosperity and social status, yet class is difficult to define and discern/distinguish. We examine it empirically only through its consequences our outcome. Education closely influences personal and social development in the technical, economic spheres, and wider political arenas of emancipation and democracy.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    By observing Phi Beta Lambda I have learned that statuses, roles, culture, and social structure are all interconnected. Statuses and roles make up a key element in social structure. The structure of society contains statuses in which roles are then developed.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In society, status and class are two of the most significant social forces that contribute to one’s own image. Not being born in the right social ranking can make life further difficult .This can inhibit the social mobility of an individual if they decide to move up a rung in the ladder of society. This social inequality plays a role in society that few people are able to manage .The social constructs of inequality are far reaching, and it even claws its way into the family. According to Dalton Conley, author of The Pecking Order, “The truth is that inequality starts at home” (pg. 586).…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    There are four types of characteristics that can result in higher group status. The first is diffuse characteristics, which are observable personal attributes that have two or more states that are differentially evaluated, where each state is culturally associated with specific performance expectations and also with general performance expectations. An example of a diffuse characteristic in Remember the Titans is race. There are preconceived ideas about someone simply based off of the color of their skin, which can have a role in determining one’s status within a group. The next is specific characteristics which are very context dependent characteristics that are beneficial in one particular situation.…

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Breakfast Club (Part Two: Theories) Social Identity Theory: “Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.” (McLeod 2008) In this movie there are five adolescents trying to find themselves and fit in within the groups they currently belong or have migrated into; the exception of one, Allison who acts out in mannerism that isolates her which is easier than trying to fit it. Andy and Claire belong to the ‘cool/popular kids’ the jocks, the cheerleaders the prom queens.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Coming from my position in life, I often find challenge in analyzing, interpreting, and discussing social class. It weighs on me that I likely bring unfair biases and predispositions to this topic. I am a white, American, educated, athletic male from a family with both parents still together and without many financial troubles. Aside from perhaps a degree from a prestigious University or boat loads of cash, I do not think that I could be more privileged. Although my privilege might sway my ideas on the matter of social class, I am working to remove these biases in order to truly recognize the ways in which the social construct of social class influences the individuals, communities, and institutions that I come in contact with in everyday life.…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Do you think that people in your community judge others based on look, and do you think you are being defined by others? Status is based on how we dress, look, and where we come from and is supposed to be interpreted in a positive way. This is because our differences are what make us unique and special in our own ways. Unfortunately, people in the world are using our differences to separate us into multiple categories.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alain De Botton Analysis

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages

    In a world where the approbation and reverence from others carry more respective influence than most anything else, an epidemic of status anxiety has infected the minds of today’s societies. By definition, status anxiety is the desire for one in a modern society to “climb the social ladder”. Distinguished author and philosopher Alain de Botton claims this chronic disease is an inevitable side effect of any democratic, ostensibly egalitarian society. In one of de Botton’s most erudite works to date, Status Anxiety dichotomizes the intricacies of living life amongst the oppression of the modern status anxiety. A logical and rational individual might be quick to question how such a profound “disease” can be captured and confined to the pages…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    7.1 How do societies rank people in social hierarchies? The ranking of people into various “classes” is a common practice in many of the world’s cultures. While these social rankings are practiced throughout the world, they can vary widely depending on each society’s cultural values. The text provides a familiar example in the form of the American social class system.…

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sociologists narrowed the breakdown of our social structure to five different elements, which are: statuses, social roles, groups, social networks, and social institutions. First I will discuss my personal experience with ascribe status, achieved status, and master status. Then I will bring an example of role strain and role conflict from personal experience. Giving the reason why, I will then discuss which one of these two roles is the most difficult in terms of role exit. Ascribed status is viewed by sociologists as an assigned status to a person by society, without his/her unique talents or characteristics.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Consequently, social status almost directly correlates with political identity, which in this day is a primary source of the characteristics that define humans. Our culture has viewed political identities as one of the defining characteristics of an individual 's Identity. How an individual carries themselves or acts in public is very different from the ways and individuals will act around close friends or family. Ultimately there interactions with others bring out the more reserved characteristics that an individual would like to be remembered by. An individual will act more professional and will be more mindful of his interactions.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Weber, an individual’s status situation is associated with others’ evaluation of him or his social position, which attributes to positive or negative social prestige that he has. And status group often demonstrate their distinctiveness by following a particular lifestyle. While both class and status may be based on social power, party has, on the contrary, a further influence on the distribution of power. As Weber defined, a party refers to any association that individuals set up voluntarily with an aim to control an organization to achieve certain policies.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays