Status Cues Research Articles

Interacting with Healthcare Chatbot: Effects of Status Cues and Message Contingency on AI Credibility Assessment

How do status cues of AI agents alter human users’ interpretations and evaluations of these agents during human-AI interactions? Drawing upon social status theories and the CASA paradigm, this study explores the influences of status cues in AI-powered healthcare chatbots on AI credibility assessment via perceived AI agency and AI anxiety. The moderation effects of message contingency are also examined. A 2 (status cues: high-status vs. low-status) × 2 (message contingency: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment was conducted online (N = 209). Results revealed that healthcare chatbots with high-status (vs. low-status) cues were perceived as having more AI agency, which was further associated with higher perceived AI credibility. Perceived AI agency and AI anxiety sequentially mediated the effect of social status cues on perceived AI credibility. Results also showed that high (vs. low) message contingency significantly ameliorated users’ AI anxiety for high-status healthcare chatbots. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Gender and Race Effects on Leaders: The Role of Status Cues

Gender and Race Effects on Leaders: The Role of Status Cues

Purchasing privilege? How status cues affect police suspicion in routine traffic stops

ABSTRACT A police officer’s decision to search a driver’s car during a routine traffic stop is based on many variables and indicates that the officer views the driver with suspicion. In this paper, we ask whether driving a luxury-brand car reduces police suspicion during a traffic stop. We find significant reductions in rates of search for minority drivers of luxury cars, though these benefits fade away as the car grows older. We further explore the interactions between personal identity and vehicle type and find powerful effects associated with whether the vehicle indicates occupational status. Our study is based on more than 10 million traffic stops conducted by the Texas Highway Patrol. These findings add status cues to the long list of factors that appear to influence how police treat drivers during routine traffic stops.

Status cues and moral judgment: Formal attire induces moral favoritism but not for hypocrites

Status-related impressions influence important interpersonal dynamics, including moral judgments of good or bad, and right or wrong, whereas these impressions can be formed based on subtle cues (e.g., formal versus casual attire of transgressors). The current research examined how attire influences moral judgments in transgressive contexts and for different transgressions. We proposed that attire would have different effects on moral judgments depending on whether transgressions were accompanied with contradictory moral claims (i.e., hypocrisy versus non-hypocrisy), and attire and hypocrisy would influence moral judgments through perceived intentionality (i.e., whether transgressions were committed intentionally or accidentally). We tested these hypotheses in four studies (total N = 1,007; including two pre-registered), by examining both people’s moral blame of transgressive behaviors and their moral impressions (e.g., trustworthiness and compassion) of the transgressors. Findings were largely in line with hypotheses: People favored formal- over casual-attire targets when both transgressed in non-hypocritical contexts and with ambiguous intentionality (Studies 1 to 3). However, moral favoritism based on formal attire was diminished when transgressions were hypocritical and perceived as intentional (Studies 2 to 4). For various contexts where people (need to) make moral judgments, our findings suggest that cues of high status are key ingredients to moral evaluations, but signs of hypocrisy and intentionality may seriously undermine the workings of these cues.

Antecedents to the conspicuous consumption of luxury fashion brands by middle-income black South Africans

PurposeSouth Africa is increasingly becoming an attractive market for luxury fashion brands due to the growing middle-income consumer segment, which is perceived to be upwardly mobile. Despite evidence of black South African's exhibition of heightened interest in conspicuous consumption (CC), there seems to be limited research addressing the drivers and implications of such behaviour. This study aims to investigate the antecedents of CC by middle-income black South Africans and the marketing implications thereof.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a survey questionnaire approach and a quantitative methodology for primary data collection. Data were gathered from a sample of 170 respondents across South Africa and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) through SPSS and Mplus software. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test model fit, reliability and validity of measurement instruments, while path modelling was used to test hypotheses adopted by this report.FindingsAmong the major findings made by this report was that social class signalling positively influenced CC. In contrast, CC was not predicted by status consumption (SC). This study concluded that social factors motivated the CC of luxury fashion brands by middle-income black South Africans.Practical implicationsThis study's key recommendations were for marketing professionals to imbue overt status cues in their brand campaigns to drive the consumption of luxury fashion brands. Future studies could investigate whether or not the findings of this study are applicable across ethnic demographics in South Africa.Originality/valueThe study extends the discourse of the antecedents of ethnic consumer behavioural patterns in a historically segregated market. It weighs in on the growing research addressing factors driving the middle-income population from emerging economies to consume luxury fashion brands conspicuously.

Status cues and normative change: How the Academy Awards facilitated Chile's gender identity law

AbstractThis study explores how the Academy Award for A Fantastic Woman facilitated the adoption of Chile's Gender Identity Law. Approved in 2018 after languishing for over five years in Congress, the law establishes individuals’ right to modify their national identification documents without the need to change their physical appearance or receive prior court authorisation. While trans rights activists extensively lobbied for a law that guaranteed access to gender marker changes, conservatives rejected the initiative, framing their opposition in terms of Christian values and against the ‘gender ideology’ that purportedly informed the bill. We argue that this backlash dissipated in the wake of the award. International recognition made support for trans rights temporarily a matter of national pride, thereby opening a window of opportunity for the approval of the law. The case of Chile's Gender Identity Law illustrates how international status cues can foster normative change by mobilising affect in domestic audiences. It contributes to recent debates on status and domestic political change, and the role that emotion and affect play in world politics.

Subliminal Priming Effects of Masked Social Hierarchies During a Categorization Task: An Event-Related Brain Potentials Study.

Evidence so far shows that status detection increases attentional resources, especially for high hierarchies. However, little is known about the effects of masked social status cues on cognition. Here, we explore the masked priming effects of social status cues during a categorization task. For this purpose, we use Event-Related brain Potentials (ERP) time-locked to the presentation of two types of artworks (Christian, non-Christian) primed by masked social hierarchies sorted into two types (religious, military), and in two ranks (high, low) each. ERP results indicate early attention effects at N1, showing larger amplitudes for the processing of artworks after high and military ranks. Thereafter, the P3a increased for all artworks primed by religious vs. military figures, indicating a relevant role of task demands at this processing stage. Our results remark the automaticity of hierarchy detection and extend previous findings on the effects of social status cues on complex cognitive processes.

Third-Party Perceptions of Male and Female Status: Male Physical Strength and Female Physical Attractiveness Cue High Status

Status is a universal feature of human sociality. A lesser-studied adaptive problem surrounding status is assessing who has which levels of status in a given group (e.g., identifying which people possess high status). Here, we integrate theory and methods from evolutionary social science, animal behavior, and social psychology, and we use an emotion inference paradigm to investigate what cues render people high status in the eyes of social perceivers. This paradigm relies on robust associations between status and emotion display—particularly the anger display. If a target is expected to enact (but not necessarily feel) anger, this would suggest that social perceivers view that target as higher status. By varying target attributes, we test whether those attributes are considered status cues in the eyes of social perceivers. In two well-powered, pre-registered experiments in the United States (N= 451) and India (N= 378), participants read one of eight vignettes about a male or female target—described as high or low in either physical strength or physical attractiveness (possible status cues)—who is thwarted by another person, and then reported expectations of the target’s felt and enacted anger. We find that people expected physically stronger (versus less strong) men and more (versus less) physically attractive women to enact greater anger when thwarted by a same-sex other. Strength had no significant effect on estimations of female status and attractiveness had no significant effect on estimations of male status. There were no differences in expectations of felt anger. Results suggest that people use men’s strength and women’s attractiveness as status cues. Moreover, results underscore the notion that focusing on male-typical cues of status might obscure our understanding of the female status landscape. We discuss how this paradigm might be fruitfully employed to examine and discover other unexplored cues of male and female status.

The role of status in the early emergence of pro-White bias in rural Uganda.

Research investigating the early emergence of racial prejudice has been largely limited to contexts in which racial prejudice is most likely to emerge-multiracial societies that have pronounced racial inequality (e.g., United States, South Africa). The present study assessed whether pro-White racial bias is also early emerging in a homogenous Black community that has little exposure to modern media and where children presumably experience less overt discrimination than in past samples. Black African children (N=214) between 5- and 12-years-old living in rural Uganda exhibited substantial pro-White racial bias, preferring White over Black children 78% of the time. Ugandan children also judged White children as higher status than Black children, and these status judgments predicted their degree of pro-White bias. Our results indicate that pro-White racial biases can emerge even in a homogenous Black community and that, in some contexts, minimal status cues can be sufficient for the early development of racial prejudice.

From “haves” to “have nots”: Developmental declines in subjective social status reflect children's growing consideration of what they do not have

Subjective social status (SSS), or a person's view of their own socioeconomic status, has important consequences for social cognition and wellbeing, yet little is known about its development before adolescence. Previous research finds that SSS declines during childhood. We sought to replicate this finding, and also to extend it by investigating what aspects of children's reasoning drive this developmental decline. To do so, we assessed four- to ten-year-old children's SSS using a MacArthur Ladder Task (n = 377), which has been validated for use with children in this age range. We then assessed children's open-ended rationales for their SSS judgments. Results indicated that SSS declined over child development, replicating previous work. We also confirmed that this decline corresponded with improvements in SSS accuracy; young children overestimated their SSS relative to their objective SES, but were relatively accurate by age ten. Moreover, trends in children's rationales revealed that developmental shifts in both SSS and SSS accuracy corresponded with children's references to what they do not have, but not with references to what they do have, nor with references to any particular status cues (e.g., houses, lifestyle). Thus, children may increasingly consider what they lack to determine their status. Implications for self-evaluation and social cognition are discussed.

Formal Hierarchy As a Source of Upward Status Disagreement? A Theoretical Perspective

Formal hierarchies may be presumed to reduce uncertainty about the status ordering of employees as they imply a consistent global ranking. However, formal hierarchies in organizations are not merely linear, but are characterized by branching and nesting (i.e., they comprise subunits within the organization and subunits within other subunits), which creates a local ranking of individuals within each subunit. This can create tension between global and local formal ranks as status cues. Moreover, individuals may also draw on informal status cues that are inconsistent with formal ranks. Consequently, organizational members may experience upward status disagreement (USD), whereby each assumes they have higher status than the other. We offer a theoretical model that identifies important conditions under which cues arising from the structure of the formal hierarchy—either on their own or in conjunction with informal status cues—can be a source of USD. We also explore when USD can result in status conflict and identify moderators of this relationship. Our research has implications for how the frequency of USD can be mitigated as organizational structures become more complex and the workforce becomes increasingly diverse.

Location-specific inhibition of Akt reveals regulation of mTORC1 activity in the nucleus

The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) integrates growth, nutrient and energy status cues to control cell growth and metabolism. While mTORC1 activation at the lysosome is well characterized, it is not clear how this complex is regulated at other subcellular locations. Here, we combine location-selective kinase inhibition, live-cell imaging and biochemical assays to probe the regulation of growth factor-induced mTORC1 activity in the nucleus. Using a nuclear targeted Akt Substrate-based Tandem Occupancy Peptide Sponge (Akt-STOPS) that we developed for specific inhibition of Akt, a critical upstream kinase, we show that growth factor-stimulated nuclear mTORC1 activity requires nuclear Akt activity. Further mechanistic dissection suggests that nuclear Akt activity mediates growth factor-induced nuclear translocation of Raptor, a regulatory scaffolding component in mTORC1, and localization of Raptor to the nucleus results in nuclear mTORC1 activity in the absence of growth factor stimulation. Taken together, these results reveal a mode of regulation of mTORC1 that is distinct from its lysosomal activation, which controls mTORC1 activity in the nuclear compartment.

Charismatic Nonverbal Displays by Leaders Signal Receptivity and Formidability, and Tap Approach and Avoidance Motivational Systems.

Status cues and signals act as guidance systems by regulating social approach and avoidance. Applied to leadership, we hypothesized that nonverbal displays conveying the dual-status messages of receptivity and formidability and the approach/avoidance motives they activate set conditions for charismatic, leader–follower relationships. We investigated perceptions of charisma, the nonverbal signals associated with them, the motives they energize, and the relationships they support across levels of analysis. At the social–perceptual level (studies 1a–d), eligible voters rated political leaders’ traits after viewing silent, 30-s videos of speeches presented online. As predicted, perceptions of politicians’ receptivity (warmth and attractiveness) and formidability (competence and power) were independently associated with perceptions of their charisma; perceptions of trustworthiness and authenticity showed weaker or negligible associations. Results were similar when the stimuli were female, Jamaican educational leaders. Leaders’ nonverbal behavior was linked to perceptions of their receptivity, formidability, and charisma in study 2. At the brain systems level, studies 3a and 3b tested predictions that charismatic nonverbal performances stimulate equivalent degrees of approach and avoidance motivation in observers. Brain recordings via electroencephalography (EEG) were made while undergraduates viewed leaders rated high or low in charisma. Discrepancies in alpha activity in the left and the right frontal hemispheres (associated with approach and avoidance, respectively) were relatively diminished when participants viewed highly charismatic political leaders, indicating that approach and avoidance motives are energized in response to charismatic performances. The EEG patterns for Jamaican leaders were similar but not significant. At the group level of analysis, study 4 sought evidence that charismatic leaders create uniquely influential relationships with followers. Video recordings of student leaders interacting with pairs of unfamiliar students during a group decision-making task were assessed for leader receptivity, formidability, and charisma by independent sets of undergraduate judges. Perceptions of student leaders’ receptivity and formidability predicted their charisma, and charismatic leaders were most influential in bringing followers to privately accept a controversial group decision. Across studies, evidence generally supported hypotheses generated from status cues theory: charismatic leadership builds upon the nonverbal projection of dual-status messages and the approach/avoidance motives they engender, setting conditions for a uniquely powerful brand of influence.

Celebrity influence on word of mouth: the interplay of power states and power expectations

Despite the widespread use of celebrity endorsers to stimulate word of mouth in marketing practice, surprisingly little academic research investigates factors that influence consumers to spread word of mouth about celebrity-endorsed brands. In accord with compensatory consumer behavior research on consumer power states, we find that consumers in low-power states report stronger intentions to spread word of mouth about a brand that is celebrity-, compared to model-, endorsed, and that consumers in low-power states report stronger intentions to spread word of mouth about celebrity-endorsed brands than consumers in high-power states. However, consumers in high-power states can be encouraged to spread word of mouth about celebrity-endorsed brands when the endorsement message communicates high-power expectations, because such messages are easier to process. Consumers in high-power states seek to conform to expectations of how powerful people behave, and spread word of mouth in order to self-verify their power state. Consumers in low-power states are attuned to status cues that facilitate perceptions of the brand as possessing referent power, and spread word of mouth in order to remedy the aversive nature of feeling powerless.

Perceived relative social status and cognitive load influence acceptance of unfair offers in the Ultimatum Game.

Participants in the Ultimatum Game will often reject unfair resource allocations at personal cost, reflecting a trade-off between financial gain and maintenance of social standing. Although this rejection behavior is linked to executive control, the exact role of cognitive regulation in relation to status cues is unclear. We propose that the salience of status cues affects how cognitive regulation resolves the conflict between financial gain and social status considerations. Situations that tax executive control by limiting available cognitive resources should increase acceptance rates for unfair offers, particularly when the conflict between economic self-interest and social reputation is high. Here, participants rated their own subjective social status, and then either mentally counted (Load) or ignored (No Load) simultaneously-presented tones while playing two rounds of the Ultimatum Game with an online (sham) “Proposer” of either high or low social status. A logistic regression revealed an interaction of Proposer status with cognitive load. Compared to the No Load group, the Load group showed higher acceptance rates for unfair offers from the high-status Proposer. In contrast, cognitive load did not influence acceptance rates for unfair offers from the low-status Proposer. Additionally, Proposer status interacted with the relative social distance between participant and Proposer. Participants close in social distance to the high-status Proposer were more likely to accept the unfair offer than those farther in social distance, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for offers from the low-status Proposer. Although rejection of unfair offers in the Ultimatum Game has previously been conceptualized as an intuitive response, these results instead suggest it reflects a deliberative strategy, dependent on cognitive resources, to prioritize social standing over short-term financial gain. This study reveals the dynamic interplay of cognitive resources and status concerns within this paradigm, providing new insights into when and why people reject inequitable divisions of resources.

Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces.

Impressions of competence from faces predict important real-world outcomes, including electoral success and chief executive officer selection. Presumed competence is associated with social status. Here we show that subtle economic status cues in clothes affect perceived competence from faces. In nine studies, people rated the competence of faces presented in frontal headshots. Faces were shown with different upper-body clothing rated by independent judges as looking 'richer' or 'poorer', although not notably perceived as such when explicitly described. The same face when seen with 'richer' clothes was judged significantly more competent than with 'poorer' clothes. The effect persisted even when perceivers were exposed to the stimuli briefly (129 ms), warned that clothing cues are non-informative and instructed to ignore the clothes (in one study, with considerable incentives). These findings demonstrate the uncontrollable effect of economic status cues on person perception. They add yet another hurdle to the challenges faced by low-status individuals.

When are emotional online product reviews persuasive? Exploring the effects of reviewer status and valence in consumer purchase decisions

This study investigates how features of online product reviews affect persuasive outcomes. In particular, we focus on how emotional reviews can exert significant influence on how people process and act upon a review. We conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment (N = 368) to explore the effects of (a) review emotionality (high vs. low), (b) valence (positive vs. negative), and (c) system-generated status cues as signaled by reviewer badges (present vs. absent) on perceived argument strength and purchase intention. Results revealed that for the positive reviews, but not for the negative reviews, the effect of review emotionality on purchase intention via perceived argument strength was significant only when reviewer badges were present. Specifically, positive emotional reviews with reviewer badges present increased purchase intention through increases in perceived argument strength. These findings highlight the unique role of online message characteristics in consumer decision making.

Formal Structure as A Source of Inconsistent Status Cues: Implications for Cross-Unit Teams

Formal Structure as A Source of Inconsistent Status Cues: Implications for Cross-Unit Teams

Who Differentiates by Skin Color? Status Attributions and Skin Pigmentation in Chile.

A growing body of research has shown that phenotypes and skin pigmentation play a fundamental role in stratification dynamics in Latin American countries. However, the relevance of skin color on status attribution for different status groups has been little studied in the region. This article seeks to broaden the research on phenotypic status cues using Chile as a context for analysis – a Latin American country with a narrow although continuous spectrum of skin tones, marked status differences, and a mostly white elite. We draw on status construction theory to hypothesize that skin pigmentation in Chile has become a status cue, although its heuristic relevance could differ across status groups. Using visual stimuli and a repeated measure design, we studied this relationship and tested whether the use of skin pigmentation as a status cue is conditional upon the status of those categorizing others. The results reveal that participants attribute, on average, lower status to others of darker skin. Besides, skin pigmentation has a conditional effect on the social status of participants: whereas skin pigmentation does not work as a status cue for lower status participants, it is an important status marker for the categorizations that middle and especially higher status participants perform. The phenotypic composition of reference groups of low- and high-status individuals and system justification are discussed as potential explanations for these results.

Infants Choose Those Who Defer in Conflicts

For humans and other social species, social status matters: it determines who wins access to contested resources, territory, and mates [1-11]. Human infants are sensitive to dominance status cues [12, 13]. They expect conflicts to be won by larger individuals [14], those with more allies [15], and those with a history of winning [16-18]. But being sensitive to status cues is not enough; individuals must also use status information when deciding whom to approach and whom to avoid [19]. In many non-human species, low-status individuals avoid high-status individuals and in so doing avoid the threat of aggression [20-23]. In these species, high-status individuals commit random acts of aggression toward subordinates [23] and even commit infanticide [24-26]. However, for less reactively aggressive species [27, 28], high-status individuals may be good coalition partners. This is especially true for humans, where high-status individuals can provide guidance, protection, and knowledge to subordinates [2, 29, 30]. Indeed, human adults [31-33], human toddlers [34], and adult bonobos [35] prefer high-status individuals to low-status ones. Here, we present 6 experiments testing whether 10- to 16-month-old human infants choose high- or low-status individuals-specifically, winners or yielders in zero-sum conflicts-and find that infants choose puppets who yield. Intriguingly, toddlers just 6months older choose the winners of such conflicts [34]. This suggests that, although humans start out like many other species, avoiding high-status others, we shift in toddlerhood to approaching high-status individuals, consistent with the idea that, for humans, high-status individuals can provide benefits to low-status ones.