Who attains social status? Effects of personality and physical attractiveness in social groups.

Abstract

One of the most important goals and outcomes of social life is to attain status in the groups to which we belong. Such face-to-face status is defined by the amount of respect, influence, and prominence each member enjoys in the eyes of the others. Three studies investigated personological determinants of status in social groups (fraternity, sorority, and dormitory), relating the Big Five personality traits and physical attractiveness to peer ratings of status. High Extraversion substantially predicted elevated status for both sexes. High Neuroticism, incompatible with male gender norms, predicted lower status in men. None of the other Big Five traits predicted status. These effects were independent of attractiveness, which predicted higher status only in men. Contrary to previous claims, women's status ordering was just as stable as men's but emerged later. Discussion focuses on personological pathways to attaining status and on potential mediators.

Gaze allocation in a dynamic situation: Effects of social status and speaking

“…Attractive people are thought to draw attention (Maner et al, 2003), and attractiveness has been found to predict high social status in some groups (Anderson, John, Keltner, & Kring, 2001). The present study design may provide a suitable context for testing the effects of attractiveness on attention in dynamic contexts, particularly as there is evidence that attractiveness inferred from watching dynamic video might prove to be different from image-based, ''physical" attractiveness (Riggio, Widamen, Tucker, & Salinas, 1991).…”

Power reduces the press of the situation: Implications for creativity, conformity, and dissonance.

“…That is, the personalities of high-power individuals are better predictors of their expressions and behavior than are the personalities of low-power individuals. For instance, the personalities of high-status members of a group predict the expression of both positive and negative emotions, but no such correspondence occurs for low-status members (Anderson et al, 2001). Also consistent with this line of thinking, Chen et al (2001) found that the possession of power leads those with a communal orientation to demonstrate greater generosity, whereas those with an exchange orientation engage in more self-serving behaviors when they have power; this difference, however, was not apparent when individuals lacked power.…”

Preference effects on friendship choice: Evidence from an online field experiment

“…Status researchers argue that high status affects visible salience, which in term leads to more power and influence (Anderson et al, 2001;Berger et al, 1972;Ridgeway and Correll, 2006). For example, neuroscientists find that among humans, faces of higher social status individuals incite more gazing attention than those of lower status people (Dalmaso et al, 2012).…”