What's in a name? Status, power, and other forms of social hierarchy

Abstract

Despite a long history in social sciences such as anthropology and sociology, status has not received its deserved status in psychology and related domains such as management. This chapter attempts to bring greater clarity to the conceptualization of status and to highlight its distinctions from related bases of social hierarchy, such as power, dominance, and influence. To accomplish these goals, we first review current conceptual thinking on status and other related bases of social hierarchy. We then present a review of recent empirical evidence that supports differentiation among these bases of social hierarchy, focusing primarily on empirical work that differentiates status and power. We then propose an integrative framework that organizes the many related, yet distinct constructs that describe social hierarchy. Throughout, we are attentive to the fundamental question of why distinguishing status from these related aspects of social hierarchy matters-both for research and for a better understanding of social life.