Status Incongruence Research Articles

Status Equilibration: Fueled by Uncertainty, Frustration, or Anxiety?

Status incongruence in groups is thought to produce tension and to give rise to attempts at equilibration of the incongruence by one means or another. Status incongruence is inevitably confounded with its constituent status differences, however, and it is possible that they by themselves produce part or all of both the tension and the equilibration. Attitudes toward status and toward incongruence are here employed to disentangle these main and interactive effects. Results suggest that anxiety concerning status per se has more to do with both the tension and the equilibration of status incongruent encounters than does either sensitivity to the imbalance of incongruence or frustration engendered by its injustice.

Early life social incongruities, health risk factors and chronic disease

This study tested specific hypotheses concerned with the relationships between three early life stress variables occurring between 0 and 16 yr of age and a variety of adult health status measures ascertained some 20–60 yr later in a 40% sample of the Tecumseh Community Health Study population 35–69 yr of age. The hypotheses stated that each of the following characteristics, relatively greater residential geographic mobility during childhood, being deprived of one or both natural parents for one or more years during this early formative period, and experiencing parental status incongruence, would be associated with higher levels of nine risk factors, greater prevalence of five chronic diseases, and a greater rate of mortality. The risk factors were systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose level, serum cholesterol, serum uric acid, the F.E.V. 1.0 measure of lung function; adiposity, number of cigarettes smoked currently, and amount of alcohol consumed currently. The chronic conditions were CHD, hypertension, diabetes, chronic bronchitis and asthma. Also measured were the aggregation of these chronic conditions and whether or not the respondents ever smoked cigarettes or drank alcohol. Five mobility measures and an index were developed. As predicted, in general, significant relationships were found among women between the five separate mobility variables and the health measures. Specifically, all five separate measures of mobility were related to CHD among older women, and most were related to cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption among all women. Various of the five mobility measures were related to various other specific health measures. In general, mobility was not related to the health measures studied among men. The hypotheses concerning parental deprivation and parental status incongruency were not substantiated by the data.

Education as a Dimension of Status Incongruence between Parents and the Self Perceptions of College Students

sciences in university graduate departments. Research in Higher Education 1: 191-213. Moore, William J. 1973 The relative quality of graduate programs in economics, 1958-1972: Who published and who perished. Western Economic Journal 11:1-23. Roose, Kenneth D., and Charles J. Andersen. 1970 A Rating of Graduate Programs. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education. Schichor, David. 1970 Prestige of sociology departments and the placing of new Ph.D.'s. American Sociologist 5:157-160. Shamblin, Don H. 1970 Prestige and the sociology establishment. American Sociologist 5:154-156. Siegfried, J.J. 1972 The publishing of economic papers and its impact on graduate faculty ratings, 1960-1969. Journal of Economic Literature 10:31-49. Yoels, William C. 1974 The structure of scientific fields and the allocation of editorships on scientific journals: Some observations on the politics of knowledge. Sociological Quarterly 15:264-276. Zuckerman, Harriet, and Robert K. Merton. 1971 Patterns of evaluation in science: Institutionalization, structure, and function of the referee system. Minerva, 9:66-101.

Patterns of Stratification in Socialist Poland

In the article attempts in Polish sociology to explain social structure and social stratification in socialist society are analyzed. The author claims that an adequate stratification principle or social determinant to explain the distribution of social attributes in socialist society is lacking. The theoretical significance of the concept "socialist intelligentsia" is analyzed and claimed to disguise an eventual social élite. The socialist intelligentsia and the Communist Party are, in theoretical contexts, treated as "black box" entities without regard to internal differentiation, an approach which covers basic social inequalities in socialist society. Problems of social conflict are usually reduced to the technical problem of setting fair wage limits. The thesis of social decomposition or status incongruency is contested and questioned as an indicator of social equality. The author argues that control over the economy might serve as an adequate social determinant in socialist society from which it is possible to derive secondary social attributes.

A Model of Shipboard Interaction on a Hebridean Fishing Vessel

Status incongruence theory and Barth's transactional model are combined to produce an assumption set that accounts for shipboard behaviors observed on a Hebridean fishing vessel. The standard prestations that define and maintain the role set of skipper-deckhand-cook are described. Analysis focuses (a) on the status incongruence of the cook and the predictable manner in which he copes with the situation and (b) on the effects of the observer. The observer's presence introduced an element of uncertainty into the situation and provided a reference point for the cook in his strategic interaction with other personnel on board. The main implication to be drawn from the essay is that the value of Barth's transactional model lies in the facility with which it can incorporate other theoretical approaches.

A Primer in Theory Construction.

INTRODUCTION For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful? Typologies, Prediction and Explanation, Sense of Understanding, Control Theory How Does a Concept or Statement Become Part of a Scientific Body of Knowledge? Desirable Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge--Abstractness, Intersubjectivity (Meaning), Intersubjectivity (Logical Rigor), Empirical Relevance Summary and Conclusion 2. THE IDEA Kuhn Paradigms Example: Freud's Theory of Personality Paradigms Examples: Heider's Balance Theory Two Conceptions Of Status Structures: Elitist and Pluralistic Paradigm Variations Examples: Variations on the Freudian Conception of Personality Variations on Heider's Balance Theory Identifying Paradigms Conclusion 3. CONCEPTS Definition of Concepts Abstract vs. Concrete Concepts Concept Measurement Quantification of Concepts--The Nominal Level, The Ordinal Level, The Interval Level, General Comments on Quantification 4. STATEMENTS Existence Statements Relational Statements--Associational Statements, Casual Statements, Deterministic and Probabilistic Statements Levels of Abstraction Theoretical Statements Relation of Theoretical Statements to Theory Relationship between Theoretical Statements and Empirical Data Summary 5. FORMS OF THEORIES The Set-of-Laws Form Examples: The Iron Law Of Oligarchy The Laws of Operant Behavior The Exercise of Influence in Small Groups The Axiomatic Form Example: The Exercise of Influence in Small Groups The Casual Process Form Examples: The Effect of First Impressions on Cognitions Creation of Oligarchies Operant Behavior, Law II The Exercise Of Influence in Small Groups Status Incongruence and Mental Health Evaluation of the Three Forms of Theory Simulation or Model Building Summary 6. TESTING THEORIES Abstract Statements and Concrete Research Empirical Research and Confidence in Abstract Statements Statisical Decision Procedures--Classical Statistical Inference Should the Hypothesis be Presented before the Data are examined? Changing Confidence in Theories Comparing Theories Conclusion 7. STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING A SCIENTIFIC BODY OF KNOWLEDGE Research-The-Theory Theory-Then-Research Comparison of Strategies How to get a New Idea Composite Approach Research Methods Conclusion 8. CONCLUSION Potential for a Social Science Potential for a Social Science APPENDIX: STUDENT EXERCISES Comments Assignment 1: Empirical Generalization and Empirical Support Assignment II: Explanation of an Empirical Generalization Assignment III: Testing a Theory Assignment IV: Application of Theories to Natural Phenomena REFERENCES AUTHOR INDEX SUBJECT INDEX

Chapter X SOCIAL FACTORS, STRESS EXPERIENCE, AND PERSONALITY TRAITS IN WOMEN WITH ISCHAEMIC HEART DISEASE, COMPARED TO A POPULATION SAMPLE OF WOMEN

Abstract. No significant differences in socio‐economic status were found between women with IHD and women in the general population. No correlation was found between status incongruity of husband and wife and ischaemic heart disease. Women who had four children or more were significantly over‐represented among those who had myocardial infarction and among those with ECG changes suggestive of ischaemic heart disease. Psychological stress, both when measured as psycho‐social stress factors and as subjective stress experience, was significantly more common in women with myocardial infarction and in women with angina pectoris than in women in the general population. Among personality traits assessed, the level of aggression and neurotic self‐assertiveness was significantly higher in women with myocardial infarction. Achievement and dominance displayed a tendency in the same direction but the differences did not reach statistical significance.

Physical and mental health correlates of status incongruence

The report explored the relationship between status incongruence, the degree of similarity of rankings on paired status variables, and diverse interview-based measures of physical and mental health. The subjects in the study were some 169 adult men; one half of them came from a national survey sample, while the other half represented an arthritis clinic sample with patients and controls. Data on education, occupation, income, and perceived social class (PSC) were used to construct several status incongruence indices. The major findings were: 1. Neither rheumatoid arthritis nor ulcer were related to status incongruence. 2. Education-occupation incongruence showed by far the strongest association with poor mental health. Among the two types of incongruence, education > occupation and occupation > education, the former had particularly poor mental health. 3. Education-PSC, occupation-PSC, education-income, and occupation-income types of incongruence showed weaker associations. Direction of incongruence made a difference in the education-PSC comparison: the education > PSC incongruent group had poorer mental health than the PSC > education incongruent group.

Status Incongruence In Supervisor Subordinate Dyads: The Effects On Subordinate Job Satisfaction and Creative Performance

Extant research on status incongruence has begun to explore the resultingtensions it may engender between supervisor and subordinate, yet it excludes therole of other demographic factors beyond age which influence status perceptions.We draw on role congruity theory to examine how organizational culture influenceswhether supervisor-subordinate dyadic status incongruence has a negative orpositive impact on subordinate job satisfaction and creative performance. We findthat status incongruence reduces job satisfaction when supervisor-subordinate dyadswork in a hierarchical organizational culture (i.e. low clan organizational culture),and job satisfaction increases for supervisor-subordinate dyads that work in a clanorganizational culture (i.e. high clan organizational culture). Furthermore, theseeffects on job satisfaction ultimately impacted subordinate creative job performance,supporting a moderated-mediation model. Implications for future research on statusincongruence are discussed.

The intrafamilial transmission of rheumatoid arthritis—VI: Association of rheumatoid arthritis with several types of status inconsistency

This study examines the relationship of 2 focal variables, rheumatoid arthritis and self-esteem, to several types of status inconsistency: that of the parents, of the respondents themselves, and of the respondents' marriage. The RA cases came both from a national interview sample and a university arthritis clinic. Ths subjects without RA were part of a cluster which included the spouse of the RA, the RA's sib and his (her) spouse, a cousin of the RA, and an unrelated individual. The data were collected in the course of three structured interviews: The major findings were as follows: 1. (1) Women with RA are more likely to come from families where the parents' marriage is status discrepant and the father is incongruent on education vs. occupation. 2. (2) Men with RA are somewhat less likely to come from such status inconsistent families, while the frequency of men with PU was unrelated to parental inconsistency. 3. (3) Both men and women from status inconsistent families report lower self-esteem when describing themselves as adults. 4. (4) Several forms of status incongruence of the respondents themselves bore no relationship to RA in women and to RA or PU in men. 5. (5) Status incongruent men whose education was ‘inappropriately’ high in relation to their occupation or to their perceived social class (PSC) were particularly low on self-esteem, while congruent men were generally the highest. 6. (6) Status incongruent women had the lowest self-esteem if their education exceeded their perceived social class, but highest self-esteem if their social class exceeded their education while congruent women were intermediate but closer to the latter group. 7. (7) Marriages where both spouses were healthy were less likely to be status discrepant than those marriages where one or the other of the spouses had RA. 8. (8) Wives in status discrepant marriages were more likely to have low self-esteem and more depression than wives where little or no discrepancy existed. The associations for the husbands were in the same direction but not significant. 9. (9) Status discrepant marriages were higher on marital hostility. 10. (10) Healthy husbands who were themselves status incongruent were more likely to have wives with RA than healthy husbands who were status congruent. Such wives had also lower self-esteem.

Social Status, Status Incongruence and Symptoms of Stress

We investigate the utility of two divergent conceptualizations of social stratification as they apply to symptoms of stress. One approach envisages socioeconomic status as some average of the values of a number of indicators of status, while the other emphasizes the effects of status incongruence. Those with incongruence of status did not differ significantly from status congruents in proportion with stress, nor was amount of status incongruence associated with stress. The average-of-indicators model of status as represented by a more or less unidimensional hierarchy had a better fit to the data than the multidimensional concept of stratification.

Effects of parental status incongruence and discrepancy on physical and mental health of adult offspring.

This report is concerned with the effects of discrepancy and incongruence in the educational and occupational status of parents—herei n called status stress —on the physical and mental health of adult offspring. The Ss in the study were about 250 men and women; i of them came from a national survey sample, while the other 1 represented an arthritis clinic sample with patients and controls. The major findings were: (a) Women with arthritis were more likely to have come from high-status-stress families. Arthritis in men, and ulcers in men and women were found unrelated to status stress; (b) men from high-status-stress families perceived their fathers, but not their mothers, as being more arbitrary in their authority, but as less dominant than the mothers. Moreover, for these men, the fathers were less likely to be seen as role models and their whole childhood was recalled as unhappy and insecure; (c) women from high-status-stress families perceived their mothers, but not their fathers, as more arbitrary but as less likely role models. Moreover, these women described their parents' marriage as relatively affectionless, as well as without overt conflict, (d) Ss coming from families characterized by high status stress described themselves as follows: as having poorer current physical health, more physical symptoms indicative of anxiety and low energy, more anxious, angry, and depressed, less self-confident, a greater desire for change for men, while for women greater emotional dependence and less happy marriage. It is the intent of the present report to sures of arthritis, ulcer, and general state of explore the effects of certain aspects of pa- health; psychological and physical symptoms rental status incongruence and discrepancy of anxiety; indexes of depression and selfon the physical and mental health of the esteem; frequency of anger-irritat ion; and a adult offspring. Specifically, we shall examine number of measures dealing with perceptions three status variables: father's education and of parents. occupation, and mother's education. The con- Social scientists have been interested in

The Effect of Group Success on the Reduction of Status Incongruence in Task-Oriented Groups

The Effect of Group Success on the Reduction of Status Incongruence in Task-Oriented Groups