Group Property 3: Status
Status
A socially defined position or rank given to a groups or group members by others. Status is a significant motivator and has major behavioral consequences when individuals perceive a disparity between what they believe their status is and what others perceive it to be.
What Determines Status
According to status characteristics theory, status tends to derive from these sources:
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The power person wields over others. Because they likely control the group´s resources, people who control the outcomes tend to be perceived as high status.
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A person´s ability to contribute to a group´s goal. People whose contributions are critical to the group´s success tend to have high status.
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An individual´s personal characteristics. Someone whose personal characteristics are positively valued by the group (good looks, intelligence, money) typically has higher status than someone with fewer valued attributes.
Status and Norms
Status has some interesting effects on the power of norms and pressures to conform. High-status individuals are often given more freedom to deviate from norms than are other group members. People in high-status jobs (such as physicians or lawyers) have especially negative reactions to social pressures by people in low-status jobs. High-status people are also better able to resist conformity pressures than their lower-status peers.