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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–9Cite as

Status Competition and Peer Relationships in Childhood

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Synonyms

Dominance; Popularity; Power; Prestige; Reputation; Social hierarchy

Definition

Status competition is the contest or rivalry between two or more individuals over the pursuit of influence, deference, attention, and associated resources. Peer relationships are associations between two or more individuals that may vary in closeness and duration and which reflect and sometimes lead to the creation of friendships, partnerships, allegiances, and group membership.

Introduction

While the underlying fabric and structures of human groups are diverse, two processes seem ubiquitous to social life: individuals desire affiliation with others and form social hierarchies. From the formal social organization of businesses to the relationships within some of the most egalitarian societies that lack formal structures of power (reviewed in Cheng et al. 2014), individuals assort hierarchically, with people occupying different strata within a group based on their standing in multiple culturally...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK

    Daniel Redhead & Rick O’Gorman

  2. University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Joey Cheng

Authors
  1. Daniel Redhead
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  2. Joey Cheng
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  3. Rick O’Gorman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Redhead .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of South Carolina - Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA

    Carey Fitzgerald

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Redhead, D., Cheng, J., O’Gorman, R. (2018). Status Competition and Peer Relationships in Childhood. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3639-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3639-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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