The Psychology of Social Status

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 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. - 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 and emotional 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, examining the downstream effects of high and low status on human cognition, behavior and interpersonal and inter-group relations. - Highlights of new and future directions in research on status—with a particular emphasis on how status research can effectively be applied to better understand problems and issues in the social world.

Joey T. Cheng

University of California, Berkeley

Jessica L. Tracy

University of British Columbia

Cameron Anderson

University of California, Berkeley