Looking at the Full Spectrum of Hierarchy

Abstract

Social hierarchy is a fundamental and pervasive part of organizational functioning. Given the profound importance of hierarchies in groups and organizations, a number of influential theoretical and empirical papers have been published in recent years. However, potentially rich topics at the cutting edge of theory are as of yet under-explored, leaving theoretical gaps in the hierarchy literature that our symposium begins to address. In this symposium, four papers will highlight the existing gap in the literature by exploring the psychological experience of holding high status (compared to holding high power or low status), the reduced group identification of individuals in the middle of the hierarchy, the paranoia experienced by powerless individuals, and the motivation and effort to maintain one’s current status. Together, the papers complement each other to explore the full spectrum of hierarchy – top, middle, low, and directionality. The Interdependence-Efficacy Theory of Status: Understanding the Psychological Experience of Status Presenter: Nicholas Hays; Michigan State U. Presenter: Alice J. Lee; Columbia Business School Presenter: Steven Blader; New York U. Presenter: Adam Galinsky; Columbia U. Middle Group Identity: A Curvilinear Relationship between Group Status and Member Identification Presenter: Sora Jun; U. of Texas at Dallas Presenter: Brian Lowery; Stanford U. Powerless and Paranoid: The Effects of Powerlessness on Paranoia and Hostile Behaviors Presenter: Michael Schaerer; Singapore Management U. Presenter: Trevor Foulk; U. of Maryland Presenter: Christilene Du Plessis; Singapore Management U. Presenter: Min-Hsuan Tu; U. of Florida Presenter: Satish Krishnan; Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode Striving for the Status Quo: Stasis-Striving, Inauthenticity, and Psychological Distress in High-Achievement Contexts Presenter: Jieun Pai; U. of California, Los Angeles Presenter: Eric Anicich; U. of Southern California Presenter: Jennifer Ann Whitson; U. of California, Los Angeles