Blackwell Reference Online

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It is striking how concerned people are about their status in the eyes of others. Consider teenagers who seek “respect” in the streets or professionals who are deeply concerned about the opinions of their peers. Relations of social esteem, deference, and influence shape behavior in powerful ways. They constitute a central component of the social structure of a group, which is often the structural skeleton around which other aspects of relations among the members are organized. In thinking about status relations, it is useful to distinguish between a status structure , which is a rank ordered pattern of influence and deference among a set of actors, and the actors’ shared beliefs or social representations about status value . Anything that the cultural beliefs of a society or group associate with standing in status structures can take on status value and become a cultural sign of worthiness in that collectivity. Some beliefs that rank order the status value of certain things are particular to small groups, organizations, or communities within a society (e.g., clothing styles among teenagers, neighborhoods within a city). Such beliefs may differ from subgroup to subgroup. The most powerfully influential status beliefs, however, are widely shared within whole societies. Many of these attach differential status value to the socially significant categories to which people belong, such ... log in or subscribe to read full text