Magee & Galinsky: social hierarchy - power & status

Question 1

Social hierarchy

Answer 1

An implicit or explicit rank order of individuals or groups with respect to a valued social dimension.

Question 2

Hierarchical differentiation

Answer 2

Occurs either created in a formal system or organically in informal interactions.

Question 3

Status and power hierarchy

Answer 3

Status hierarchy:
- Characterized by a rank ordering of individuals or
groups according to the amount of respect accorded
by others
Power hierarchy:
- Individuals are rank ordered with respect to the
amount of resources each controls

Question 4

Functions of social hierarchy

Answer 4

• Social order and coordination
  
  • Fulfills an important cluster of human needs
    characterized by the desire for order, structure, and
    stability
• Individual incentives
  
  • providing incentives for individuals to try to ascend
    to higher positions because higher rank affords
    greater material and psychological rewards and
    comfort

Question 5

How do expectations reinforce status hierarchies?

Answer 5

• Expectancy confirmation
  
  • Status of an individual determines how others
    evaluate his or her behaviour
• Behavioural confirmation
  
  • Social interaction can shape individuals’ behaviour
    in a hierarchy-reinforcing manner by guiding
    behaviour so that it conforms to and becomes
    consistent with statusbased expectations
• Backlash
  
  • Individuals whose behaviour deviates from
    prescriptive expectations are often evaluated
    negatively and even punished
• Opportunity accumulation
  
  • Individuals who are most respected are given
    higher quality opportunities than those who are less
    respected

Question 6

Hierarchy is self-reinforcing through 3 main aspects

Answer 6

• The psychological effects of power
• Status-based expectations
• Hierarchy-enhancing ideologies
  
  • Social dominance theory & System justification
    theory

Question 7

Social status & Social power

Answer 7

Social status
- The extent to which an individual or group is
respected or admired by others
- Objective accomplishments are translated into status
only through subjective interpretations
- Status emerges from expectations that individuals
have for their own and each others’ performance, or
on various professional and demographic qualities
(“status characteristics”)
- To the extent that one’s formal position garners
respect in the eyes of others, one has status
- Needs to be separated from: attention and influence
Social power
- Asymmetric control over valued resources in social
relations
- More objective than status, because if the sources of
value for each party are known, one can measure
each
party’s power
- To the extent that one’s formal position provides
control over resources that other care about, one
has power
- Needs to be separated from: influence, resistance,
and conflict

Question 8

Effects of power on psychological processes

Answer 8

• Power begets more power because the powerful
  directly capture additional resources for themselves
• Power holders’ high-level, abstract construal of the
  world likely obscures the specific interests of
  subordinates, which helps perpetuate the status quo
  hierarchical arrangements
• People with power have an instrumental focus: They
  attend to and approach others only to the extent that
  they are useful
• Relationship between power and objectification can
  reinforce hierarchy: by increasing efficiency, the
  powerful will be given disproportionate credit for the
  organization’s success