A rising tide lifts all boats: Group performance and intragroup status

Abstract

Early theories of status dynamics in small groups portrayed intragroup status as a limited resource—as the status of one group member rises, the status of another must fall. Recent theorizing presents an alternative view: that the amount of status available to group members can be variable rather than fixed. Building on this view, we theorize that the average level of intragroup status changes as a function of group performance, such that the intragroup status of an average group member is higher in groups with higher performance and lower in groups with lower performance. We further theorize that changes in group solidarity partly account for the link between group performance and intragroup status. Across three preregistered studies, we find support for these hypotheses, which we hope will kindle interest in identifying other factors that can account for changes in intragroup status equilibria.