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Fundamentals: Status

#1 · January 11, 2021, 6:48 am

Hello guys,

In any field, the one who understands the best the fundamentals (the bricks, the building blocks) has the most solid understanding. That is my commitment to learning social and power dynamics.

So in this one, I want to learn about status. Has anyone find a good book about this specific topic? The more scientific the better. I want to know the real data. The nature of Status.

Do you guys any good book on status?

Thanks a lot!

Cheers!

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#2 · January 11, 2021, 1:39 pm

Hey John,

Personally cannot come up with a specific name of book, course, or resource that deals with status -or with power dynamics in general- and for which I'd say "yeah, go for this one, it's focused on status, and it will help you understand and/or acquire status".

In a way, me starting this website and PU was an answer to the lack of any such resource -or, at least, my continued failure in finding one-.

This is not to say there isn't good information on status and power dynamics, there's a lot of it, but it's all scattered here and there.

That's my take on it, I'll be the happiest if someone comes up with some good recommendation.

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#3 · January 11, 2021, 8:42 pm

I get it, thanks. There was a paper with the keywords "group dynamics status" that I had in my reading list somewhere but I cannot find it anymore.

I found this on group dynamics from Wikipedia.

#4 · January 12, 2021, 9:45 pm

Quote from John Freeman on January 12, 2021, 9:45 pm
Ok, I found an article on social status in Wikipedia.
Social status is a measurement of social value.^[1]^[2] More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honor, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. Some writers have also referred to a socially valued role or category a person occupies as a "status" (e.g., gender, social class, ethnicity, having a criminal conviction, having a mental illness, etc.).^[3] Status is based in beliefs about who members of a society believe holds comparatively more or less social value.^[4] By definition, these beliefs are broadly shared among members of a society. As such, people use status hierarchies to allocate resources, leadership positions, and other forms of power. In doing so, these shared cultural beliefs make unequal distributions of resources and powerappear natural and fair, supporting systems of social stratification.^[5] Status hierarchies appear to be universal across human societies, affording valued benefits to those who occupy the higher rungs, such as better health, social approval, resources, influence, and freedom.^[2]
Status hierarchies depend primarily on the possession and use of status symbols. These are cues people use to determine how much status a person holds and how they should be treated.^[6] Such symbols can include the possession of socially valuable attributes, like being conventionally beautiful or having a prestigious degree. Other status symbols include wealth and its display through conspicuous consumption.^[7] Status in face-to-face interaction can also be conveyed through certain controllable behaviors, such as assertive speech, posture,^[8] and emotional displays.^[9]
I haven’t looked yet in the power moves dictionary but there should be an entry called “Social Status”
So that is what I learned today. It’s tough but true, you social status is your social value.
It represents how much value and you have to other people in a given context.
So that is why attacking your social status is to be defended. Your value to the group is attacked. So the people attacking your status are attacking your value to the eyes of the other individuals. Only with their words!
For instance you bake a cake for your family. You brought value to them. Then someone says: “it was good but it was too sweet”. This depreciates the value you brought. Let’s say you worked 2 hours on it. By saying this the other person is saying: “this cake is worth 30 min of work”. It’s an approximation and I’m sure others will chime in.
Don’t let others steal your social value. Especially knowing that we’re a social species. It’s serious stuff.
PS: the title of this thread should read: "Social Status". My mistake.

Ok, I found an article on social status in Wikipedia.

Social status is a measurement of social value.^[1]^[2] More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honor, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. Some writers have also referred to a socially valued role or category a person occupies as a "status" (e.g., gender, social class, ethnicity, having a criminal conviction, having a mental illness, etc.).^[3] Status is based in beliefs about who members of a society believe holds comparatively more or less social value.^[4] By definition, these beliefs are broadly shared among members of a society. As such, people use status hierarchies to allocate resources, leadership positions, and other forms of power. In doing so, these shared cultural beliefs make unequal distributions of resources and powerappear natural and fair, supporting systems of social stratification.^[5] Status hierarchies appear to be universal across human societies, affording valued benefits to those who occupy the higher rungs, such as better health, social approval, resources, influence, and freedom.^[2]
Status hierarchies depend primarily on the possession and use of status symbols. These are cues people use to determine how much status a person holds and how they should be treated.^[6] Such symbols can include the possession of socially valuable attributes, like being conventionally beautiful or having a prestigious degree. Other status symbols include wealth and its display through conspicuous consumption.^[7] Status in face-to-face interaction can also be conveyed through certain controllable behaviors, such as assertive speech, posture,^[8] and emotional displays.^[9]

I haven’t looked yet in the power moves dictionary but there should be an entry called “Social Status”

So that is what I learned today. It’s tough but true, you social status is your social value.

It represents how much value and you have to other people in a given context.

So that is why attacking your social status is to be defended. Your value to the group is attacked. So the people attacking your status are attacking your value to the eyes of the other individuals. Only with their words!

For instance you bake a cake for your family. You brought value to them. Then someone says: “it was good but it was too sweet”. This depreciates the value you brought. Let’s say you worked 2 hours on it. By saying this the other person is saying: “this cake is worth 30 min of work”. It’s an approximation and I’m sure others will chime in.

Don’t let others steal your social value. Especially knowing that we’re a social species. It’s serious stuff.

PS: the title of this thread should read: "Social Status". My mistake.

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#5 · December 3, 2021, 3:58 pm

Hello,

I think status is everything. Peterson in his book starts with that.

In PU, I saw something that hit me: Physically aggressive people/Thugs/Gangsta: they base their status on their willingness to fight.
It's like golden info. If you understand this, you understand everything.

I would like to try to do the same for other types of people.

What do they base their status on - Social Capital Currency

Aggressive people: Willingness to fight - fight's count
Drill Sergeants: established social hierarchy and the power they get from the position they have - tasking/blaming they can do
Smart alec: Ability to have an answer about anything - being right/wrong's count
Master of the Universe: Ability to buy anything - wealth amount
Very Ambitious people: Willingness to get things done, no matter the human cost - track record
The charmers: Being liked by everyone - friend's count
Experts: Ability to fix very difficult problems with their skills/knowledge - Track record
Seducers: Ability to get a woman - Women's count
Cold guy: Ability to instill fear on others - enemies' count
Social Climber: To look better than the other guy - guys they outpowered count
Cool guy: Ability to detach - friend's count
Passive-aggressive: Cold guy type: Giving silent treatment, or attacking all of a sudden. So people fear his reactions. So Fear.
Sport guy: ability to win - track record

What do you guys think?