Skip to main content
  • Textbook
  • © 2014

The Psychology of Social Status

  • Investigates crucial underlying psychological mechanisms of status

  • Contributions come from a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology and organizational science

  • Highlights biological and bodily manifestations of status attainment

  • Special methods chapter examines available research methods for measuring and experimentally manipulating social status

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
  2. Theoretical Perspectives: The Nature of Social Status and Hierarchy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
  3. Who Leads? Psychological Underpinnings of Status Attainment

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 97-97
    2. Personality and Status Attainment: A Micropolitics Perspective

      • Cameron Anderson, Jon Cowan
      Pages 99-117
    3. Prosocial Behavior and Social Status

      • Sara Kafashan, Adam Sparks, Vladas Griskevicius, Pat Barclay
      Pages 139-158
    4. The Pursuit of Status: A Self-presentational Perspective on the Quest for Social Value

      • Mark R. Leary, Katrina P. Jongman-Sereno, Kate J. Diebels
      Pages 159-178
    5. The Emotional Underpinnings of Social Status

      • Conor M. Steckler, Jessica L. Tracy
      Pages 201-224
  4. Intrapsychic and Interpersonal Consequences of Status

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 225-225
    2. Decision Making at the Top: Benefits and Barriers

      • Nathanael J. Fast, Priyanka D. Joshi
      Pages 227-242
  5. How Is Status Manifested in the Body?

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 267-267
    2. Hormones and Hierarchies

      • Erik L. Knight, Pranjal H. Mehta
      Pages 269-301
    3. Neural Basis of Social Status Hierarchy

      • Narun Pornpattananangkul, Caroline F. Zink, Joan Y. Chiao
      Pages 303-323
    4. Nonverbal Communication and the Vertical Dimension of Social Relations

      • Judith A. Hall, Ioana Maria Latu, Dana R. Carney, Marianne Schmid Mast
      Pages 325-343

About this book

The Psychology of Social Status outlines the foundational insights, key advances, and developments that have been made in the field thus far. The goal of this volume is to provide an in-depth exploration of the psychology of human status, by reviewing each of the major lines of theoretical and empirical work that have been conducted in this vein. Organized thematically, the volume covers the following areas:

 - An overview of several prominent overarching theoretical perspectives that have shaped much of the current research on social status.

 - Examination of the personality, demographic, situational, emotional, and cultural underpinnings of status attainment, addressing questions about why and how people attain status.

 - Identification of the intra- and inter-personal benefits and costs of possessing and lacking status.

- Emerging research on the biological and bodily manifestation of status attainment

- A broad review of available research methods for measuring and experimentally manipulating social status

 â€‹A key component of this volume is its interdisciplinary focus.  Research on social status cuts across a variety of academic fields, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, organizational science others; thus the chapter authors are drawn from a similarly wide-range of disciplines. Encompassing the current state of knowledge in a thriving and proliferating field, The Psychology of Social Status is a fascinating and comprehensive resource for researchers, students, policy-makers, and others interested in learning about the complex nature of social status, hierarchy, dominance, and power.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, USA

    Joey T. Cheng, Cameron Anderson

  • Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Jessica L. Tracy

About the editors

Joey T. Cheng

University of California, Berkeley

Jessica L. Tracy

University of British Columbia

Cameron Anderson

University of California, Berkeley

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Psychology of Social Status

  • Editors: Joey T. Cheng, Jessica L. Tracy, Cameron Anderson

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0867-7

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-0866-0Published: 09 September 2014

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-3996-1Published: 26 April 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4939-0867-7Published: 09 September 2014

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 365

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Personality and Social Psychology, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Anthropology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access