Status Characteristics Theory Research Articles

Gender composition at work and women's career satisfaction: An international study of 35 societies

AbstractDrawing from status characteristics theory, we develop a multilevel model to explain the relationships between gender composition (e.g., female‐female supervisor‐subordinate dyads, a female majority at the next higher level, and a female majority at the same job level) in the workplace and women's career satisfaction. We hypothesise that working with a female supervisor and a female majority at the same level will be negatively related to women's career satisfaction, while a female majority at the next higher level will be positively related to women's career satisfaction. Moreover, we propose that formal societal (gender‐equality) institutions and informal cultural (gender‐egalitarian) values, each has a moderating effect on the impact of gender compositions on women's career satisfaction. Our results from a multilevel analysis of 2291 women across 35 societies support the three hypothesised main effects. Whereas institutions that support gender equality weaken the positive effect of working with a female majority at the next higher level, they amplify the negative effect of a female majority at the same hierarchical level. Our findings highlight the complex and paradoxical nature of gender composition effects on women's career satisfaction. We discuss the theoretical contributions of our findings and their implications for the diversity management practices of multinational enterprises.

Virtual voices: Exploring individual differences in chat and verbal participation in virtual meetings

A key component of team performance is participation among group members. One widespread organizational function that provides a stage for participation is the workplace meeting. With the shift to remote work, roughly half of all meetings are conducted virtually. One encouraging opportunity that can elevate meeting participation in this context is the use of written chat. Chat offers a second avenue of participation during a meeting, where attendees can synchronously contribute to the conversation through writing. This study explores factors influencing participation in virtual meetings, drawing on individual differences (status characteristics theory), psychological safety perceptions, and group communication. Results reveal gender and job level nuances: women engage more in chat, while men verbally contribute more frequently. Further, we found men highest in job level verbally contributed the most in virtual meetings, whereas women highest in job level use the chat the most frequently. Regarding type of chats sent, women use emoji reactions more often than men, and men send more attachments than women. Additionally, results revealed psychological safety moderated the relationship between job level and overall chat participation, such that employees low in job level with high perceptions of psychological safety sent more chats than their counterparts. This study provides insights into communication patterns and the impact of psychological safety on participation in technology-mediated spaces.

Early-Career Assignments and Workforce Inequality in Engineering

ABSTRACT Positioned as part of leadership development in many organizations, ‘stretch assignments’ are a type of work assignment that can prove someone’s readiness to advance in their career. Informed by status characteristics theory, our research investigates the frequency and expected outcomes of stretch assignments among recent engineering graduates in the workforce. Findings suggest that early-career stretch assignments, especially assignments involving new and unfamiliar areas, potentially intensify gender and racial/ethnic workforce inequality. Other types of assignments that may be more familiar and clearly-scoped to early-career engineers show a different and less inequality-intensifying pattern. We discuss why early-career engineers’ assignments may be sites of inequality and the need for more focus on organizational processes around career-advancing work.

Gender-based in-group social influence can lead women to view a hostile sexist attitude as less prejudiced and more true

ABSTRACT Social influence processes by which women come to judge a hostile sexist attitude as relatively true and unprejudiced were examined. Based upon status characteristics theory, women’s judgments were expected to be more strongly influenced by a man’s than a woman’s interpretation of the sexist attitude as true or prejudiced. Based upon self-categorization theory, women’s judgments were expected to be more strongly influenced by a woman’s than a man’s interpretation. Support was primarily observed for the self-categorization theory prediction. This effect, however, was initially suppressed by participants’ acceptance of the legitimacy of gender status differences. A post-hoc mediational analysis revealed two pathways by which in-group social influence affected women’s acceptance the relative veracity of negative claims about their own group: a direct path from shared in-group membership with the influencing agent, and an indirect path through their acceptance of the legitimacy of gender status differences. The research highlights how women’s endorsement of sexist views can have the capacity to minimize other women’s challenges of these views as prejudice.

Beyond the glass ceiling: Informal gender-based status hierarchy and corporate misconduct

We use status characteristics theory to hypothesize that status beliefs lead to the formation of an informal gender-based status hierarchy on corporate boards. After controlling for several characteristics of directors, we discover that the status ranking of female directors is remarkably 19.58% of one position lower than that of male directors on boards. We investigate how female director status ranking affects board decisions, particularly corporate ethical behaviors. We specifically argue that female director status ranking is negatively associated with corporate misconduct, such that the likelihood of misconduct is lower when female gender status is positively viewed on boards. Furthermore, we argue that the effect of informal female director status ranking is contingent on three factors: the presence of a female board chair, good governance mechanisms, and Confucian culture. Using a large firm–year (18,266) and director–year (285,229) sample of Chinese firms during 2008–2019, we find support for our theoretical predictions.

How and when employees’ boundary-spanning behavior improves their creative performance: A moderated mediation model

Abstract This article draws on status characteristics theory to explore the mechanisms of individual-level boundary-spanning behavior on employee creative performance, as well as the mediating role of informal status and the moderating role of Zhongyong thinking. The results of a two-wave questionnaire survey of 202 employees show that boundary-spanning behavior has a significant positive relationship with employees’ creative performance, informal status mediates the link between boundary-spanning behavior and creative performance of this employee, Zhongyong thinking plays a moderating role between employees’ boundary-spanning behavior and their informal status, and Zhongyong thinking also moderates the mediating role of informal status between boundary-spanning behavior and employee creative performance. In this paper, a moderated mediation model is established to enhance the understanding of the effects and mechanisms of individual boundary-spanning behavior, as well as to provide some constructive insight into how boundary-spanning behavior can be effectively employed in management practice within the Chinese context.

Competence or Dominance? A Quasi-Experimental Test of Sense of Control, Status, and Power

ABSTRACT Sense of control has been conceived as an individual-level mechanism shaping the unequal distribution of life outcomes. Yet recent studies imply its potential to form interpersonal hierarchies through two distinct dimensions: status and power. As extant theorizing favors status processes over power dynamics, we investigated it as a status element using status characteristic theory and a modified standardized experimental situation. We successfully detected sense of control’s limited capacity to form status hierarchies. However, further analyses suggest that aspects of interactional power, instead of competence-based status generalization, explain more variance in the observed influence patterns. We conclude that the detected hierarchies may be power based, but another research design should test this possibility. We then discuss the implications of these thought-provoking outcomes.

Effects of Trait Dominance on Social Rank Achievement in the Workplace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, explore, and provide the underlying mechanisms for an individual’s trait dominance leading to a high social standing within a group. Design/Methodology/Approach – Based on status characteristics theory, implicit theories, and social exchange theory, this study posits that informal leadership is the main mediator in the relationship between trait dominance and social rank enhancement. This study also argues that the relationship between trait dominance and perceived informal leadership diminishes when trait dominance is not accompanied by a corresponding level of competence. It also argues that the positive association between trait dominance and perceived informal leadership is amplified when the group feels a sense of urgency. Using a survey-based study with 270 employee–peer pairs, this study tested hypotheses using a series of hierarchical regressions. Findings – This paper studies and empirically finds the indirect mediating effect of informal leadership connecting trait dominance to social rank. Moreover, the moderating effect of sense of urgency is found as statistically significant. That is, when group members perceive that the group encounters uncertain or even risky situations, they appreciate the value of trait dominance possessed by informal leaders. Research Implications – In the management of this paper, this study sheds light on the inconsistent effects of dominance on social rank by providing an alternative pathway. The current theoretical and empirical research framework emphasizes that individuals with trait dominance are perceived to be leadership material regardless of their official title as they possess and convey various leadership-signaling cues.

Why executive board membership in academic clubs helps students get interviews

PurposeThe paper aims to improve students' job placements, higher education institutions invest considerable resources and their students spend considerable time in academic clubs. Yet, quantitative findings on the effect of students' academic club involvement on job placements are mixed. This paper aims to help resolve ambiguity regarding the effect of academic clubs on job placements.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two studies. The first developed an inductive theoretical model by interviewing recruiters and managers and extending status characteristics theory. The second study is an experiment that tested the first study's inductive model and increased the model's generalizability.FindingsThe results of both studies show that executive board membership, but not general membership, increases perceptions of applicants' emotional control and public speaking ability, and thereby increases applicants' chances of getting an interview.Practical implicationsAdministrators should consider shifting resources away from academic clubs that only benefit a few students and toward programs that help more students develop transferable skills. Students should prioritize joining clubs in which students think students can become executive board members. Academic clubs should require general members to have responsibilities that help members develop transferable skills. Industry may need to make more competitive offers to hire executive board members.Originality/valueThe two studies contribute to research on academic clubs by suggesting that the results of previous academic club membership studies are mixed, because only executive board members are more likely to get interviews. The results also highlight the importance of applying status characteristics theory to future academic club research.

Theory toolbox for historical explanation: An essay in analytic sociology

Merton proposed middle range theories, not as ends in themselves, but as bases for a consolidation to explain broader phenomenon. More than a half century has passed since Merton’s consolidation proposal and in that time a number of experimentally tested middle range theories have been developed. Certainly, the next step should be a consolidation. Yet, to our knowledge, no one has previously offered a consolidation of experimentally tested theories and applied it for explanation. This paper offers a consolidation of middle range theories formulated to explain the rise of the pristine state. Two theories of this consolidation, Status Characteristics Theory and Elementary Theory, form the core of what Analytic Sociologists have called a toolbox of theories. Our toolbox forms an integrated consolidation in two ways. First, the social structures modeled by the theories form a path-dependent process of increasing benefits gained by the elites of the structures. Second, the end conditions of each step of the process are the initial conditions of the next. Whereas the theories in our toolbox have previously been seen as applying exclusively to microstructures, we have encountered no difficulties in scaling them up to apply to macrostructures. While we hope the consolidation has validity in explaining the occurrence of pristine states, this paper’s significance lies in its demonstration that today social theories can be consolidated and applied for explanation.

Contextual Factors Influencing Effects of Leader Characteristics on Leadership Outcomes

Existing literature has well documented that various leader diffuse status characteristics such as gender, race, disability, obesity, etc., although irrelevant to the task at hand, influence leadership outcomes such as leader emergence, perceived leader effectiveness, and follower job satisfaction. However, the contexts in which these characteristics become status indicators and influence leadership outcomes remain under-explored. To advance knowledge on the contextual factors that influence the degree to which leader characteristics become more status-indicating and hence relevant to leadership outcomes, we draw upon status-related theories, such as status characteristics theory and social dominance theory, and develop propositions about such contextual factors. By doing so, we aim to help researchers systematically examine moderators of the relationships between a leader's diffuse status characteristics and leadership outcomes. We also aim to help leaders and aspiring leaders and organizations which seek to improve diversity in their leadership by presenting a broad range of factors that can be leveraged to mitigate the negative effects of leader diffuse status characteristics on perceived leader effectiveness and other leadership outcomes.

Gender Stereotypes and The Dynamics of Women Evaluation: A Study of Igbo Anthroponymic Systems

The essentialist belief or perception that females are less valuable or are not worth as much as males and practices that mandate this behavior portray age-long and ideological underpinnings that drive gender discrimination. The aim of this article is to examine how unwritten rules of society and constrained expectations about women influence some derogatory names given to female children and their cultural reconstructions over time given a positive life outcome. The study adopts Ernestine Friedel’s Social theory of gender and the Status Characteristic theory to challenge the perception that women are less valuable and explore ways in which normative expectations, male dominance and economic realities affect the values assigned to women in each culture. This is critical social research that investigated the semantic contents of some derogatory female Igbo names and their cultural reconstructions as changes in social context raised the cultural worth of those females in their life trajectories. It employed the ethnographic method of study with narratives, participant observation and informal interview methodology for collection of qualitative data. The paper analyses the gender-based values, ideologies and norms that mandate women devaluation and other relationships that have placed women in a subordinate status. It offers an emic understanding of a process of change that transforms negative attitudes toward women indicated by the new names given to them. The study recommends a cultural reorientation as a means to ‘break the bias’ and end all forms of discrimination against girls.

How organizational cultures shape social cognition for newcomer voices

AbstractDrawing on cue consensus theory and status characteristics theory, we argue that the consensus between newcomer voice (challenging vs. supportive) and organizational culture (individualistic vs. collectivistic) leads to observers' social cognition of warmth or competence. Based on two survey studies and two experiment studies, we found that individualistic organizational culture strengthens the positive relationship between challenging voice and perceived competence and that voice constructiveness mediates this moderating effect. We also found that collectivistic organizational culture strengthens the positive relationship between supportive voice and perceived warmth, and prosocial motivation mediates this moderating effect. Focusing on consistent cues between voice and organizational culture, our research contributes to the voice literature, answering when and how both newcomer challenging voice and supportive voice can lead to perceived warmth and competence. Our results offer both theoretical implications and practical insights for employees and organizations.

Walking on ‘‘Mars’’: Gendered Group Processes in Space Analog Missions

Most research on mixed-gender teams in space analog environments focuses on individual-level variation and overlooks structural causes of inequality. Status characteristics theory posits how socially recognized traits, such as gender, contribute to the formation of informal hierarchies by denoting perceived levels of competence to group members. We investigated gender as a status characteristic in groups in space analog environments. We used data from the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and hypothesized that women crew members are less likely than men to be selected to participate in simulated extravehicular activities during a Mars simulation at the MDRS. We used reports and biographies from 30 randomly selected crews (n = 177) posted on the MDRS website to construct our dataset and multilevel generalized regression models to test our hypothesis. Women crew members were 6% less likely to participate in simulated extravehicular activities than men, controlling for crew role, education, and other factors. Our study shows that gender acts as a status characteristic and influences group decisions in crews in space analogs. These results highlight the need for more studies on interactional inequalities in preparation for a long-term human spaceflight.

Going Along to Get Ahead: The Asymmetric Effects of Sexist Joviality on Status Conferral

Social status is highly consequential in organizations but remains elusive for many professional women. Status characteristics theory argues that women are particularly status disadvantaged in masculine organizational cultures. These types of cultures valorize traits and abilities stereotypically associated with men, making it difficult for women in these settings to be seen as skilled and gain status. In the present study, we build and test novel theory explaining when and why masculine organizational cultures create the conditions for some women—those willing and able to skillfully navigate the espoused norms—to disproportionately gain status. We introduce and define the construct of a sexist culture of joviality, a type of masculine organizational culture representing the intersection of sexism and joviality that emerged inductively from our initial qualitative data. A sexist culture of joviality is characterized by norms promoting frequent sexist joking and teasing, along with underlying values and assumptions that support these sexist jovial behaviors. In a longitudinal mixed-methods field study, we demonstrate that participation in a sexist culture of joviality via engagement in sexist jovial norms is positively related to status for women but negatively related to status for men. In a follow-up experiment, we replicate this effect and demonstrate that differential perceptions of social skill mediate this interaction. Our findings illuminate the subtle ways sexism is perpetuated in organizations despite changing societal norms, underscoring the importance of disrupting these dynamics and revealing insights into how to do so.

Disruptions in the C-Suite: Status Characteristics as Determinants for CTO Turnover

Leading the technology and innovation function, chief technology officers (CTOs) are the functional top managers responsible to drive firm innovation, which can be disrupted when a CTO exits a firm. Research, however, has mainly focused on the turnover of chief executive officers, boards, or lower-level employees, while knowledge about the turnover of individual functional top managers, such as the CTO, remains scarce. This study theoretically and empirically examines the determinants of CTO turnover and utilizes a unique dataset on large U.S. firms from 2006 to 2018. By conducting a multi-level study on status characteristics theory, we reveal that status on the team, firm, and market-level influence CTO turnover decisions, yet in different directions and extents. We develop theory on the reasons for functional top manager turnover and we advance literature on CTO antecedents. Beyond theoretical contributions, our results provide advice to the managerial practice.

Determinants of role-incongruent knowledge transfer behavior of apprentices and trainers in the context of the German apprenticeship system

What motivates individuals to engage in role-incongruent knowledge transfer? Drawing on role congruity theory, we characterize role-incongruent (“reverse”) knowledge transfer as being based on an incongruity of the functional and social roles of the actors. Further integrating status characteristics theory and relational demography, we propose affect- and cognition-based trust as well as age as determinants of individuals’ engaging in such reverse knowledge transfer. In so doing, we distinguish between the social roles of trainers and apprentices, as these social roles carry implications for which behaviors are regarded as role-congruent or -incongruent. We test the resulting conceptual framework based on individual-level data from 442 participants (338 apprentices and 104 trainers) in multiple organizations within the context of vocational education training. The results largely support our hypotheses: For trainers, affect-based trust in apprentices and own age are positively associated with role-incongruent knowledge seeking, and the latter relationship is positively moderated by apprentice age. For apprentices, affect based trust is positively and cognition-based trust is negatively related to their role-incongruent knowledge sharing, but age has no significant effect. Finally, supplementary analyses document that the antecedents of reverse knowledge transfer differ from those factors that are significantly related to role-congruent knowledge exchange.

Inequality and Multiracial Gatekeeping

ABSTRACT Theoretical propositions linking power and status relations are deeply rooted in classical sociological thought. Building on that tradition, this paper investigates the impact of racial status on a specific power relation, the relation between gatekeepers and their clients. Gatekeepers control access to “benefits” they do not own, benefits that are valued by “clients.” Seeking access to those benefits, clients assume obligations which may be discharged by a fee paid to the gatekeeper. The size of the fee paid is the amount of power exercised by the gatekeeper. Employment agents, car salesmen, real estate agents are gatekeepers because they control access to jobs, cars, and housing, respectively, as well as information about each. When clients are lower status, for example, African American, employment agents may steer them to lower-paid, less desirable jobs, car salesmen may ask for and receive higher prices, and real estate agents may show only segregated housing. Research reported here extends previous work on gatekeeping to multiracial (black-white) gatekeeping relations by jointly applying two theories. Network Exchange Theory (NET) models the gatekeeper–client relation, and Status Characteristics Theory (SCT) models the impact of racial status on that relation. The result is three theoretical predictions that are experimentally tested in the well-understood context of exchange networks. As a first replication of previous work on gatekeeping, a key finding is that gatekeeping does produce power differences, as theoretically predicted. Two new additional findings are that 1) whereas race does indeed undermine the effects of blacks’ gatekeeping of whites, 2) it does not amplify (significantly) the effect of whites’ gatekeeping of blacks. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Too Many Peas in a Pod? How Overlaps in Directors’ Local and Global Status Characteristics Influence Board Turnover in Newly Public Firms

Drawing on status characteristics theory, we explore how boards’ social structures influence board turnover. We theorize that (a) understanding directors’ relative standing and spheres of influence...

The Impact of Concentrated Affluence and Disadvantage on the Pre-Adjudication Detention Decision: A Status Characteristics Approach

Studies of racial disparities in juvenile justice are primarily organized around four theoretical frameworks: focal concerns, racial threat, symbolic threat, and attribution theory. Moreover, juvenile justice research sometimes neglects to pay close attention to the front-end outcome of pre-adjudication detention. Therefore, the present study contends that status characteristics theory may broaden our understanding of how and why disparities in pre-adjudication detention arise. Moreover, the present study seeks to find how juvenile justice disparities in pre-adjudication detention emerge across races, among other social, legal, and community factors. Therefore, the present study focuses on the pre-adjudication detention decisions of judges and probation officers, utilizing quantitative data from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice and merged with American Community Survey data.