Abstract
This chapter focuses on the ways in which people seek status in their interpersonal interactions and relationships. Our analysis conceptualizes status as the degree to which other people perceive that an individual possesses resources or personal characteristics that are important for the attainment of collective goals. That is, people have status to the degree that others perceive that they have instrumental social value. In being based on instrumental social value, status is distinguishable from interpersonal acceptance, which is based on relational value. Thus, the routes to obtaining status and respect are different from those that lead to acceptance and liking. The chapter discusses the central role that self-presentation plays in the pursuit of status, the ways in which people enhance their status through impression management, the features of social situations that moderate how people manage their public images in the pursuit of status, and the dilemma that people sometimes face in balancing their efforts to be respected and gain status with their efforts to be liked and accepted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alford, H. (30 November 2012). If I do humblebrag so myself. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/bah-humblebrag-the-unfortunate-rise-of-false-humility.html.
Allen, T. D., & Rush, M. C. (1998). The effects of organizational citizen ship behavior on performance judgments: A field study and a laboratory experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 247–260.
Anderson, C., & Kilduff, G. J. (2009). The pursuit of status in social groups. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 295–298.
Anderson, C., John, O. P., Keltner, D., & Kring, A. M. (2001). Who attains social status? Effects of personality and physical attractiveness in social groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 116–132.
Anderson, C., Srivastava, S., Beer, J., Spataro, S. E., & Chatman, J. A. (2006). Knowing your place: Self-perceptions of status in social groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 1094–1110.
Anderson, C., Kraus, M. W., Galinsky, A. D., & Keltner, D. (2012a). The local-ladder effect: Social status and subjective well-being. Psychological Science, 23, 764–771.
Anderson, C., Willer, R., Kilduff, G. J., & Brown, C. E. (2012b). The origins of deference: When do people prefer lower status? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1077–1088.
Anderson, C., Brion, S., Moore, D. A., & Kennedy, J. A. (2012c). A Status-enhancement account of overconfidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 718–735.
Areni, C. S., & Sparks, J. R. (2005). Language power and persuasion. Psychology & Marketing, 22, 507–525.
Aronson, E., Willerman, B., & Floyd, J. (1966). The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness. Psychonomic Science, 4, 227–228.
Barkow, J. H. (1980). Prestige and self-esteem: A biosocial interpretation. In D. R. Omark, F. Strayer, & D. G. Freedman (Eds.), Dominance relations: An ethological view of human conflict and social interaction (pp. 319–332). New York: Garland STPM.
Baumeister, R. F., & Jones, E. E. (1978). When self-presentation is constrained by the target’s knowledge: Consistency and compensation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 608–618.
Blass, F. R., & Ferris, G. R. (2007). Leader reputation: The role of mentoring, political skill, contextual learning, and adaptation. Human Resource Management, 46, 5–19.
Blau, P. M. (1960). A theory of social integration. American Journal of Sociology, 65, 545–556.
Bourgeois, K. S., & Leary, M. R. (2001). Coping with rejection: Derogating those who choose us last. Motivation and Emotion, 25, 101–111.
Buss, A., & Briggs, S. (1984). Drama and the self in social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1310–1324.
Campbell, W. K., Rudich, E., & Sedikides, C. (2002). Narcissism, self-esteem, and the positivity of self-views: Two portraits of self-love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 358–368.
Campbell, W. K., Bruneill, A. B., & Finkel, E. J. (2006). Narcissism, interpersonal self-regulation, and romantic relationships. In K. D. Vohs & E. J. Finkel (Eds.), Self and relationships (pp. 57–83). New York: Guilford.
Carr, H., & Vignoles, V. L. (2011). Keeping up with the Joneses: Status projection as symbolic self-completion. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 518–527.
Edinger, J. A., & Patterson, M. L. (1983). Nonverbal involvement and social control. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 30–56.
Fiedler, F. E. (1978). Recent developments in research on the contingency model. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Group processes (pp. 167–208). New York: Academic.
Fiske, S. T. (2010). Interpersonal stratification: Status, power, and subordination. In S. T. Fiske, G. Lindzey, & D. T. Gilbert (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., pp. 941–982). Hoboken: Wiley.
Fiske, S. T., & Berdahl, J. (2007). Social power. In A. Kruglanski & E. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: A handbook of basic principles (pp. 678–692). New York: Guilford.
Gardner, W. L., & Avolio, B. J. (1998). The charismatic relationship: A dramaturgical perspective. Academy of Management Review, 23, 32–58.
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday.
Gonsalkorale, K., & Williams, K. D. (2007). The KKK won’t let me play: Ostracism even by a despised outgroup hurts. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 1176–1186.
Grams, W. C., & Rogers, R. W. (1990). Power and personality: Effects of Machiavellianism, need for approval, and motivation on use of influence tactics. Journal of General Psychology, 11, 71–82.
Hall, J. A., Coats, E. J., & LeBeau, L. S. (2005). Nonverbal behavior and the vertical dimension of social relations: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 898–924.
Henrich, J., & Gil-White, F. J. (2001). The evolution of prestige: Freely conferred deference as a mechanism for enhancing the benefits of cultural transmission. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 165−196.
Jones, E. E., & Pittman, T. S. (1982). Toward a general theory of strategic self-presentation. In J. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 1, pp. 231–262). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Jones, E. E., Gergen, K. J., & Jones, R. G. (1963). Tactics of ingratiation among leaders and subordinates in a status hierarchy. Psychological Monographs, 77(3, Whole No. 566).
Kiesler, D. J. (1983). The 1982 interpersonal circle: A taxonomy for complementarity in human transactions. Psychological Review, 90, 185–214.
Korda, M. (1975). Power! How to get it, how to use it. New York: Random House.
Leary, T. (1957). Interpersonal diagnosis of personality. New York: Ronald.
Leary, M. R. (1995). Self-presentation: Impression management and interpersonal behavior. Boulder: Westview.
Leary, M. R. (2001). Toward a conceptualization of interpersonal rejection. In M. R. Leary (Ed.), Interpersonal rejection (pp. 3–20). New York: Oxford University Press.
Leary, M. R. (2006). Sociometer theory and the pursuit of relational value: Getting to the root of self-esteem. European Review of Social Psychology, 16, 75–111.
Leary, M. R., & Allen, A. B. (2011). Self-presentational persona: Simultaneous management of multiple impressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 1033–1059.
Leary, M. R., Robertson, R. B., Barnes, B. D., & Miller, R. S. (1986). Self-presentations of small group leaders as a function of role requirements and leadership orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 742–748.
Leary, M. R., Tambor, E. S., Terdal, S. K., & Downs, D. L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 518–530.
MacDonald, G., & Leary, M. R. (2005). Why does social exclusion hurt? The relationship between social and physical pain. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 202–223.
Magee, J. C., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). The self-reinforcing nature of social hierarchy: Origins and consequences of power and status. Presented at IACM 21st annual conference. Chicago, IL.
McAndrew, F. T., & Milenkovic, M. A. (2002). Of tabloids and family secrets: The evolutionary psychology of gossip. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1064–1082.
Moskowitz, D. S. (1994). Cross-situational generality and the interpersonal circumplex. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 921–933.
Okimoto, T. G., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2012). Effort in the face of difference: Feeling like a non-prototypical group member motivates effort. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 628–639.
Podsakoff, P. M., & MacKenzie, S. B. (1997). Impact of organizational citizenship behavior on organizational performance: A review and suggestions for future research. Human Performance, 10, 133–152.
Price, P. C., & Stone, E. R. (2004). Intuitive evaluation of likelihood judgment producers: Evidence for a confidence heuristic. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 17, 39–57.
Raskin, R., Novacek, J., & Hogan, R. (1991). Narcissism, self-esteem, and defensive self-enhancement. Journal of Personality, 59, 19–38.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 303–316.
Schlenker, B. R. (1975). Self-presentation: Managing the impression of consistency when reality interferes with self-enhancement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 1030–1037.
Schlenker, B. R. (1980). Impression management: The self-concept, social identity, and interpersonal relations. Monterey: Brooks/Cole.
Schlenker, B. R. (2012). Self-presentation. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self, andidentity (2nd ed., pp. 542–570). New York: Guilford.
Snapp, C. M., & Leary, M. R. (2001). Hurt feelings among new acquaintances: Moderating effects of interpersonal familiarity. Journal of Personal and Social Relationships, 18, 315–326.
Vangelisti, A., Knapp, M. L., & Daly, J. A. (1990). Conversational narcissism. Communication Monographs, 57, 261–272.
Van Vugt, M., & Hardy, C. L. (2010). Cooperation for reputation; Wasteful contributions as costly signals in public goods. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 13, 101–111.
Wiggins, J. S. (1982). Circumplex models of interpersonal behavior in clinical psychology. In P. C. Kendall & J. N. Butcher (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology (pp. 183–221). New York: Wiley.
Wiggins, J. S. (2003). Paradigms of personality assessment. New York: Guilford.
Willer, R. (2009). Groups reward individual sacrifice: The status solution to the collective action problem. American Sociological Review, 74, 23–43.
Williams, K. D., & Zadro, L. (2005). Ostracism: The indiscriminate early detection system. In K. D. Williams, J. P. Forgas, & W. von Hippel (Eds.), The social outcast: Ostracism, social exclusion, rejection, and bullying (pp. 19–34). New York: Psychology.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Leary, M., Jongman-Sereno, K., Diebels, K. (2014). The Pursuit of Status: A Self-presentational Perspective on the Quest for Social Value. In: Cheng, J., Tracy, J., Anderson, C. (eds) The Psychology of Social Status. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0867-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0867-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0866-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0867-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)