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Social status

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	Topics Social status Topic Home In sociologySociology Sociology is the study of society and human social action.... or anthropologyAnthropology Summary Anthropology consists of the study of humanity .... , social status is the honor or prestigePrestige (sociology) Prestige is a word commonly used to describe reputation or esteem, though it has three somewhat related meanings that, to so... attached to one's position in societyFacts About Society A society is a grouping of individuals, which is characterised by common interest and may have distinctive culture and inst... (one's social positionSocial position Social position means a position of an individual in a given society and culture.... ). The stratification system, which is the system of distributing rewards to the members of society, determines social status. Social status, the position or rank of a person or group within the stratification system, can be determined two ways. One can earn their social status by their own achievements, which is known as achieved status, or one can be placed in the stratification system by their inherited position, which is called ascribed status. Status in different societies Status refers to the relative rank that an individual holds; this includes attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle, in a social hierarchy based upon honor or prestige. Status has two different types that come along with it: achieved, and ascribed. The word status refers to social stratification on a vertical scale. In modern societies, occupationProfession A profession is an occupation that requires extensive training and the study and mastery of specialized knowledge, and usual... is usually thought of as the main determinant of status, but other memberships or affiliations (such as ethnic groupFacts About Ethnic group An ethnic group is a human population whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common gene... , religionReligion Summary Religion is a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, unsee... , genderGender The word gender describes the state of being male, female, or neither.... , voluntary associations, fandomFandom Fandom is a subculture composed by like-minded fans characterized by a feeling of closeness to others who share the same i... , hobbyHobby A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit.... ) can have an influence. The importance of social status can be seen in the peer status hierarchy of geekGeek A geek is a person who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by obscure or very specific areas of knowledge and imagination, ... s, athletes, cheerleaders, nerdNerd Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who pursues academic and intellectual interests at th... s, and weirdoWeirdo (disambiguation) Weirdo may refer to:* A strange or unusual person... s in American high schoolSecondary education in the United States As part of education in the United States, secondary education usually covers grades 5, 6, or 7 through twelve.... s. Achieved statusAchieved status Achieved status is a sociological term denoting a social position that a person assumes voluntarily which reflects personal ... is when people are placed in the stratification structure based on their individual merits or achievements. This status can be achieved through education, occupation, and marital status. America most commonly uses this form of status with jobs. The higher up your are in rank the better off you are and the more control you have over your co-workers. In pre-modern societies, status differentiation is widely varied. In some cases it can be quite rigid and class based, such as with the IndiaIndia India , officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia.... n casteCaste Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification, such as clans, gentes, or the Indian caste syste... system. In other cases, status exists without class and/or informally, as is true with some Hunter-GathererHunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and anima... societies such as the KhoisanKhoisan Khoisan is the name for two major ethnic groups of southern Africa.... , and some Indigenous AustralianIndigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands.... societies. In these cases, status is limited to specific personal relationships. For example, a KhoisanKhoisan Overview Khoisan is the name for two major ethnic groups of southern Africa.... man is expected to take his wife's mother quite seriously (a non-joking relationship), although the mother-in-law has no special "status" over anyone except her son-in-law--and only then in specific contexts. All societies have a form of social status. Status is an important idea in social stratificationSocial stratification Social stratification is a sociological term for the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes, and strata withi... . Max WeberMax Weber Maximilian Weber was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern stud... distinguishes status from social classSocial class Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures.... , though some contemporary empirical sociologists add the two ideas to create Socioeconomic statusSocioeconomic status Socioeconomic status is a combined measure of an individual's or family?s economic and social position relative to others, ... or SES, usually operationalised as a simple indexIndex In general, Index usually refers to a system used to make finding information easier.... of incomeIncome Income, generally defined, is the money that is received as a result of the normal business activities of an individual or a... , educationFacts About Education Education is the process by which an individual is encouraged and enabled to develop fully his or her innate potential; it m... and occupational prestige. Income and status Status inconsistencyStatus inconsistency Status inconsistency is a situation where an individual's social positions have both positive and negative influences on his... is a situation when an individual's social positions have both positive and negative influences on their social status. For example, a teacherTeacher In education, teachers are those who help students or pupils learn, often in a school.... has a positive societal image (respect, prestige) which increases his status but may earn little moneyMoney Economics offers various definitions for money, though it is now commonly considered to be any good or token that functions ... , which simultaneously decreases his status. In contrast, a drug dealer, may have low social position though have a high income. However, a drug dealer may have high status within his or her own reference group (e.g., inner city gangs) and may be indifferent to his "low status" within the larger society. For example, a wealthy drug dealer who flaunts the proceeds of his trade may have the highest social status on the "street." Thus, "status inconsistency" applies to situations where members of the in-group judge the status of members of an out-group and may not apply to cases of status attainment on all criteria within an in-group. Economic status occurs when one’s position in the stratification structure is based on their economic status in the world. This is based on income, education, and occupation. Also you must take into consideration inherited wealth, savings, occupational benefits, and ownerships of homes or vehicles. Inborn & acquired status Statuses based on inborn characteristics, such as gender, are called ascribed statusAscribed status Overview Ascribed status is a social status a person is given from birth or assumes involuntarily later in life.... es, while statuses that individuals gained through their own efforts are called achieved statusAchieved status Achieved status is a sociological term denoting a social position that a person assumes voluntarily which reflects personal ... es. Specific behaviors are associated with social stigmaSocial stigma Social stigma refers to severe social disapproval of personal characteristics that is against cultural norms.... s which can affect status. Ascribed Status is when one’s position is inherited through family, racially, ethnically, and religiously serve as basis for ascribed statusAscribed status Ascribed status is a social status a person is given from birth or assumes involuntarily later in life.... . MonarchyMonarchy A monarchy, from the Greek ????, "one," and a??e??, "to rule", is a form of government that has a Monarch as Head of... is a widely-recognized use of this method, to keep the rulers in one family. This usually occurs at birth without any reference as to how that person may turn out to be a good or bad leader. Social Mobility and Social Status Status can be changed through a process of Social MobilitySocial mobility Social mobility is the degree to which, in a given society, an individual's social status can change throughout the course o... . Social mobility is change of position within the stratification system. A move in status can be upward (upward mobility), or downward (downward mobility). Social mobility allows a person to move to another social status other than the one he or she was born in. Social mobility is more frequent in societies where achievement rather than ascription is the primary basis for social status. Social mobility is especially prominent in the United States in recent years with an ever-increasing number of women entering into the workplace as well as a steady increase in the number of full-time college students. This increased education as well as the massive increase in multiple household incomes has greatly contributed to the rise in social mobility obtained by so many today. With this upward mobility; however, comes the philosophy of "Keeping up with the JonesesKeeping up with the Joneses Keeping up with the Joneses is a popular phrase in many parts of the English-speaking world referring to the common desire t... " that so many Americans obtain. Although this sounds good on the surface, it actually poses a problem because millions of Americans are in credit card debt due to conspicuous consumptionConspicuous consumption Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services that are acquired mainly for th... and purchasing goods that they do not have the money to pay for. Social Stratification Social stratificationSocial stratification Social stratification is a sociological term for the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes, and strata withi... describes the way in which people are placed with society. It is associated with the ability of individuals to live up to some set of ideals or principles regarded as important by the society or some social group within it. The members of a social group interact mainly within their own group and to a lesser degree with those of higher or lower status. Groups: Wealth and Income (most common): Ties between persons with the same personal income Gender: Ties between persons of the same sex and sexuality Political Status: Ties between persons of the same political views/status Religion: Ties between persons of the same religion Ethnicity/Race: Ties between persons of the same ethnic/racial group Social Class: Ties between persons born into the same group Max Weber's Three Dimensions of Stratification The German sociologist Max WeberMax Weber Maximilian Weber was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern stud... developed a theory proposing that stratification is based on three factors that have become known as “the three p’s of stratification”: property, prestige and power. He claimed that social stratificationSocial stratification Social stratification is a sociological term for the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes, and strata withi... is a result of the interaction of wealth, prestige and power. Property refers to one’s material possessions and their life chances. If someone has control of property, that person has power over others and can use the property to his or her own benefit. Prestige is also a significant factor in determining one’s place in the stratification system. The ownership of property is not always going to assure power, but there are frequently people with prestige and little property. Power is the ability to get people to do what one wants, without having much property. This refers to two different types of power, which are possession of power and exercising power. For example, some people in charge of the government have an immense amount of power, and yet they do not make much money. Max Weber developed various ways that societies are organized in hierarchical systems of power. These ways are social status, class power and political power. Social Status: If you view someone as a social superior, that person will have power over you because you believe that person has a higher status than you do. Class Power: This refers to unequal access to resources. If you have access to something that someone else needs, that can make you more powerful than the person in need. The person with the resource thus has bargaining power over the other. Political Power: Political power can influence the hierarchial system of power because those that can influence what laws are passed and how they are applied can exercise power over others. Status Group Max WeberMax Weber Maximilian Weber was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern stud... also developed the idea of status groups. Status groups are communities that are based on ideas of proper lifestyles and the honor given to people by others. These groups only exist because of people's ideas of prestige or dishonor. Also, people in these communities are only supposed to associate with people of like status, and all other people are looked at as inferiors. Social networks and the measure of status CentralityCentrality Within graph theory and network analysis, there are various measures of the centrality of a vertex within a graph that deter... measures such as betweennessFacts About Betweenness Betweenness is a centrality measure of a vertex within a graph.... can be used to measure the status of an actor in a social networkSocial network A social network is a social structure made of nodes which are generally individuals or organizations.... based on his or her position in this social structure. American sociologist Joel M. PodolnyJoel M. Podolny Summary Joel M. Podolny, an expert in leadership and management, is Dean of the Yale School of Management.... for example defines the status of an actor in a market as the centrality of this actor. See also Ascribed statusAscribed status Ascribed status is a social status a person is given from birth or assumes involuntarily later in life.... Achieved statusAchieved status Achieved status is a sociological term denoting a social position that a person assumes voluntarily which reflects personal ... Conspicuous consumptionConspicuous consumption Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services that are acquired mainly for th... PowerPower (sociology) Sociologists usually define power as the ability to impose one's will on others, even if those others resist in some way.... Social classSocial class Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures.... Socioeconomic statusSocioeconomic status Socioeconomic status is a combined measure of an individual's or family?s economic and social position relative to others, ... Social hierarchySocial hierarchy Social hierarchy, a multi-tiered pyramid-like social or functional structure having an apex as the centralization of power.... Social stratificationSocial stratification Social stratification is a sociological term for the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes, and strata withi... Social structure of the United StatesSocial structure of the United States There is considerable controversy regarding the Social structure of the United States and it remains a vaguely defined intel... Status attainmentStatus attainment Status attainment or status attainment theory deals largely with one?s position in society, or class.... Status classStatus class The sociologist Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification in which he defines status class as a group ... Status group Status symbolStatus symbol A status symbol is something, usually an expensive or rare object, that indicates a high social status for its owner.... Pierre BourdieuPierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu was an acclaimed French sociologist whose work employed methods drawn from a wide range of disciplines, from... cultural capitalCultural capital Cultural capital is a sociological concept that has gained widespread popularity since it was first articulated by Pierre Bo... economic capitalFacts About Economic capital In finance, mainly for financial services firms, economic capital has the following meaning:... social capitalSocial capital Social capital is a core concept in business, organizational behaviour, political science and sociology, defined as the adva... Economic mobilityFacts About Economic mobility Economic mobility is the ability of an individual or family to improve their economic status, in relation to income and soci...