A new status value theory of power is proposed that bridges two previously distinct research literatures. The theory asserts that exchangeable objects controlled by high-status actors are perceived to be more valuable when relevant to positive status characteristics. This phenomenon is predicted to confer power to high-status actors who exchange with low-status actors. The theoretical argument represents an important link between exchange theories of power and the research on status hierarchies—two areas that until now have been sharply demarcated. The theory is tested with a series of experiments in which status-differentiated subjects negotiate exchanges using a computerized bargaining system. The results indicate: (1) Positive status characteristics accentuate the perceived value of resources; (2) high-status subjects are most often chosen as the preferred exchange partner; and (3) high-status subjects obtain the greatest share of resources indicating power use. The implications for sociological theories of power and status are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aristotle. 1984. “Nicomachean Ethics.” Book 5. pp. 1781–97 in The Complete Works of Aristotle, vol. 2, edited by BarnesJ.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
2.
BacharachSamuel B. and LawlerEdward J.. 1980. Power and Politics in Organizations.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
3.
BacharachSamuel B. and LawlerEdward J.. 1981. Bargaining: Power, Tactics, and Outcomes.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
4.
BalkwellJames W.1994. “Networks and Status Expectations.” Paper presented at the Conference for Theory and Research on Group Processes, August 4, Los Angeles, CA.
5.
BaumeisterRoy F. and JonesEdward E.. 1978. “When Self-Presentation Is Constrained by the Target's Knowledge: Consistency and Compensation.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology36:606–18.
6.
BendixReinhard and LipsetSeymour Martin, eds. 1953. Class, Status and Power: A Reader in Social Stratification.Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
7.
BergerJoseph, CohenBernard P., and ZelditchMorrisJr. 1972. “Status Characteristics and Social Interaction.”American Sociological Review37:241–55.
8.
BergerJoseph, ConnerThomas L., and Hamit FisekM., eds. 1974. Expectation States Theory: A Theoretical Research Program.Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.
9.
BergerJoseph, Hamit FisekM., and FreeseLee. 1976. “Paths of Relevance and the Determination of Power and Prestige Orders.”Pacific Sociological Review19:45–62.
10.
BergerJoseph, Hamit FisekM., NormanRobert Z., and WagnerDavid G.. 1985. “The Formation of Reward Expectations in Status Situations.” pp. 215–61 in Status, Rewards, and Influence, edited by BergerJ. and ZelditchM.Jr. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
11.
BergerJoseph, Hamit FisekM., NormanRobert Z., and ZelditchMorrisJr. 1977. Status Characteristics and Social Interaction.New York: Elsevier.
12.
BergerJoseph, NormanRobert Z., BalkwellJames W., and SmithRoy F.. 1992. “Status Inconsistency in Task Situations: A Test of Four Status Organizing Principles.”American Sociological Review57:843–55.
13.
BergerJoseph, RidgewayCecilia L., Hamit FisekM., and NormanRobert Z.. 1998. “The Legitimation and Delegitimation of Power and Prestige Orders.”American Sociological Review63:379–405.
14.
BergerJoseph, RosenholtzSusan J., and ZelditchMorrisJr. 1980. “Status Organizing Processes.”Annual Review of Sociology6:479–508.
15.
BergerJoseph, WagnerDavid G., and ZelditchMorrisJr. 1985. “Introduction: Expectation States Theory: Review and Assessment.” pp. 1–72 in Status, Rewards, and Influence, edited by BergerJ. and ZelditchM.Jr. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
16.
BergerJoseph, WebsterMurrayJr., RidgewayCecilia, and RosenholtzSusan J.. 1986. “Status Cues, Expectations, and Behavior.” pp. 1–22 in Advances in Group Processes, vol. 3, edited by LawlerE. J.. Greenwich, CT: JAI.
17.
BergerJoseph, ZelditchMorrisJr., AndersonBo, and CohenBernard P.. 1972. “Structural Aspects of Distributive Justice: A Status Value Formulation.” pp. 119–46 in Sociological Theories in Progress, vol. 2, edited by BergerJ., ZelditchM.Jr., and AndersonB.. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
18.
BienenstockElisa Jayne and BonacichPhillip. 1992. “The Core as a Solution to Exclusionary Networks.”Social Networks14:231–43.
19.
BienenstockElisa Jayne and BonacichPhillip. 1993. “Game Theory Models for Exchange Networks: Experimental Results.”Sociological Perspectives36:117–35.
20.
BlauPeter M.1964. Exchange and Power in Social Life.New York: John Wiley and Sons.
21.
BlauPeter M.1977. Inequality and Heterogeneity: A Primitive Theory of Social Structure.New York: Free Press.
22.
BonacichPhillip and BienenstockElisa Jayne. 1993. “Assignment Games, Chromatic Number, and Exchange Theory.”Journal of Mathematical Sociology17:243–59.
23.
BonacichPhillip and FriedkinNoah E.. 1998. “Unequally Valued Exchange Relations.”Social Psychology Quarterly61:160–71.
24.
BorgattiStephen P. and EverettMartin G.. 1992. “Graph Colorings and Power in Social Exchange Networks.”Social Networks14:287–308.
25.
BurkePeter. 1997. “An Identity Model for Network Exchange.”American Sociological Review62:134–50.
26.
CohenElizabeth G.1993. “From Theory to Practice: The Development of an Applied Research Program.” pp. 385–415 in Theoretical Research Programs: Studies in the Growth of Theory, edited by BergerJ. and ZelditchM.Jr. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
27.
ColemanJames S.1973. The Mathematics of Collective Action.New York: Academic.
28.
CookKaren S. and EmersonRichard M.. 1978. “Power, Equity, and Commitment in Exchange Networks: Theory and Experimental Results.”American Sociological Review43:721–39.
29.
CookKaren S., EmersonRichard M., GillmoreMary R., and YamagishiToshio. 1983. “The Distribution of Power in Exchange Networks: Theory and Experimental Results.”American Journal of Sociology89:275–305.
30.
CookKaren S. and YamagishiToshio. 1992. “Power in Exchange Networks: A Power Dependence-Formulation.”Social Networks14: 245–65.
31.
DahrendorfRalf. 1959. Class and Class Conflict in Industrialized Society.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
EmersonRichard M.1964. “Power-Dependence Relations: Two Experiments.”Sociometry27:282–98.
34.
EmersonRichard M.1972a. “Exchange Theory. Part I: A Psychological Basis for Social Exchange.” pp. 38–57 in Sociological Theories in Progress, vol. 2, edited by BergerJ., ZelditchM.Jr., and AndersonB.. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
35.
EmersonRichard M.1972b. “Exchange Theory. Part II: Exchange Relations and Networks.” pp. 58–87 in Sociological Theories in Progress, vol. 2, edited by BergerJ., ZelditchM.Jr., and AndersonB.. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
36.
EmersonRichard M.1981. “Social Exchange Theory.” pp. 30–65 in Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives, edited by RosenbergM. and TurnerR. H.. New York: Basic.
37.
EmersonRichard M.1987. “Toward a Theory of Value in Social Exchange.” pp. 11–46 in Social Exchange Theory, edited by CookK. S.. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
38.
FisekM. Hamit, NormanRobert Z., and Nelson-KilgerMax. 1992. “Status Characteristics and Expectation States Theory: A Priori Model Parameters and Test.”Journal of Mathematical Sociology64(4):285–303.
39.
FreeseLee and CohenBernard P.. 1973. “Eliminating Status Generalization.”Sociometry36:177–93.
40.
FrenchJohn R. P.Jr. and RavenBertram. 1968. “The Bases of Social Power.” pp. 259–69 in Group Dynamics: Research and Theory, edited by CartwrightD. and ZanderA.. New York: Harper and Row.
41.
FriedkinNoah. 1992. “An Expected Value Model of Social Power: Predictions for Selected Exchange Networks.”Social Networks14:213–29.
42.
FriedkinNoah. 1993. “An Expected Value Model of Social Exchange Outcomes.”Advances in Group Processes10:163–93.
43.
HeiseDavid. 1987. “Affect Control Theory: Concepts and Model.”Journal of Mathematical Sociology13:1–33.
44.
HomansGeorge Casper. 1974. Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
45.
KemperTheodore D. and CollinsRandall. 1990. “Dimensions of Microinteraction.”American Journal of Sociology96:32–68.
46.
LawlerEdward J.1992. “Power Processes in Bargaining.”The Sociological Quarterly33: 17–34.
47.
LawlerEdward J. and YoonJeongkoo. 1993. “Power and the Emergence of Commitment Behavior in Negotiated Exchange.”American Sociological Review58:465–81.
48.
LawlerEdward J. and YoonJeongkoo. 1996. “Commitment in Exchange Relations: Test of a Theory of Relational Cohesion.”American Sociological Review61:89–108.
49.
LawlerEdward J. and YoonJeongkoo. 1998. “Network Structure and Emotion in Exchange Relations.”American Sociological Review63:871–94.
50.
LeikRobert K.1992. “New Directions for Network Exchange Theory: Strategic Manipulation of Network Linkages.”Social Networks14:309–24.
51.
LenskiGerhard E.1966. Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification.New York: McGraw-Hill.
52.
LovagliaMichael J.1994. “Relating Power to Status.”Advances in Group Processes11:87–111.
53.
LovagliaMichael J.1995. “Power and Status: Exchange, Attribution, and Expectation States.”Small Group Research26:400–26.
54.
LovagliaMichael J.1997. “Status, Emotion, and Structural Power.” pp. 159–78 in Status, Network, and Structure: Theory Development in Group Processes, edited by SzmatkaJ., SkvoretzJ., and BergerJ.. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
55.
LovagliaMichael J. and HouserJeffrey A.. 1996. “Emotional Reactions and Status in Groups.”American Sociological Review61: 867–83.
56.
LovagliaMichael J., SkvoretzJohn, MarkovskyBarry, and WilierDavid. 1995. “Assessing Fundamental Power Differences in Exchange Networks: Iterative GPI.”Current Research in Social Psychology1(2):8–16. Retrieved May 8, 2000 (http://www.uiowa.edu/∼grpproc).
57.
LovagliaMichael J., SkvoretzJohn, WilierDavid, and MarkovskyBarry. 1995. “Negotiated Outcomes in Social Exchange Networks.”Social Forces74:123–55.
58.
MarkovskyBarry. 1997. “Building and Testing Multilevel Theories.” pp. 13–28 in Status, Network, and Structure: Theory Development in Group Processes, edited by SzmatkaJ., SkvoretzJ., and BergerJ.. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
59.
MarkovskyBarry, SkvoretzJohn, WilierDavid, LovagliaMichael J., and ErgerJeffery. 1993. “The Seeds of Weak Power: An Extension of Network Exchange Theory.”American Sociological Review58:197–209.
60.
MarkovskyBarry, SmithLeRoy F., and BergerJoseph. 1984. “Do Status Interventions Persist?”American Sociological Review49:373–82.
61.
MarkovskyBarry, WilierDavid, and PattonTravis. 1988. “Power Relations in Exchange Networks.”American Sociological Review53:220–36.
62.
MarxKarl and EngelsFrederick. [1848] 1888. The Communist Manifesto. Translated by MooreS.. London, England: Swann.
63.
MolmLinda. 1985. “Relative Effects of Individual Dependencies: Further Tests of the Relation between Power Imbalance and Power Use.”Social Forces63:810–37.
64.
MolmLinda. 1987. “Linking Power Structure and Power Use.” pp. 101–29 in Social Exchange Theory, edited by CookK.. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
65.
MolmLinda. 1990. “Structure, Action, and Outcomes: The Dynamics of Power in Social Exchange.”American Sociological Review55:427–47.
66.
PughM. D. and WahrmanRalph. 1983. “Neutralizing Sexism in Mixed-Sex Groups: Do Women Have to Be Better than Men?”American Journal of Sociology88:746–62.
67.
RidgewayCecilia L.1991. “The Social Construction of Status Value: Gender and Other Nominal Characteristics.”Social Forces70: 376–86.
68.
RidgewayCecilia L. and BalkwellJames W.. 1997. “Group Processes and the Diffusion of Status-Beliefs.”Social Psychology Quarterly60:14–31.
69.
RidgewayCecilia L. and BergerJoseph M.. 1986. “Expectations, Legitimation, and Dominance Behavior in Task Groups.”American Sociological Review51:603–17.
70.
RidgewayCecilia L., BoyleElizabeth Heger, KuipersKathy J., and RobinsonDawn. 1998. How Do Status Beliefs Develop? The Role of Resources and Interactional Experience.”American Sociological Review63:331–78.
71.
RidgewayCecilia L. and GlasgowKristan. 1996. “Acquiring Status Beliefs from Behavior in Interaction.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, August 20, New York.
72.
RidgewayCecilia L. and WalkerHenry A.. 1995. “Status Structures.” pp. 281–310 in Sociological Perspectives on Social Psychology, edited by CookK. S., FineG. A., and HouseJ. S.. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
73.
RossW. D.1959. Aristotle: A Complete Exposition of His Works and Thought.New York: Meridian Books.
74.
ShraugerJ. Sidney. 1975. “Responses to Evaluation as a Function of Initial Self-Perceptions.”Psychological Bulletin82:581–96.
75.
SimmelGeorg. [1901] 1978. The Philosophy of Money. Translated by BottomoreT. and FrisbyD.. Boston, MA: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
76.
SkvoretzJohn. 1983. “Salience, Heterogeneity, and Consolidation of Parameters: Civilizing Blau's Primitive Theory.”American Sociological Review48:360–75.
77.
SkvoretzJohn and FararoThomas J.. 1992. “Power and Network Exchange: An Essay Toward Theoretical Unification.”Social Networks14:325–44.
78.
SkvoretzJohn and LovagliaMichael J.. 1995. “Who Exchanges with Whom: Structural Determinants of Exchange Frequency in Negotiated Exchange Networks.”Social Psychology Quarterly58:163–77.
79.
SkvoretzJohn and WilierDavid. 1991. “Power in Exchange Networks: Setting and Structural Variation.”Social Psychology Quarterly54: 224–38.
80.
SkvoretzJohn and WilierDavid. 1993. “Exclusion and Power: A Test of Four Theories of Power in Exchange Networks.”American Sociological Review58: 801–18.
81.
SkvoretzJohn and ZhangPidi. 1997. “Actors' Responses to Outcomes in Exchange Networks: The Process of Power Development.”Sociological Perspectives40:183–97.
82.
Smith-LovinLynn. 1990. “Emotions as the Confirmation and Disconfirmation of Identity: An Affect Control Model.” pp. 238–70 in Research Agendas in the Sociology of Emotions, edited by KemperT. D.. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
83.
StolteJohn. 1988. “From Micro- to Macro- Exchange Structure: Measuring Power Imbalance at the Exchange Network Level.”Social Psychology Quarterly51:357–64.
84.
StolteJohn and EmersonRichard. 1977. “Structural Inequality: Position and Power in Network Structures.” pp. 117–38 in Behavioral Theory in Sociology, edited by HamblinR. L. and KunkelJ.. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
85.
ThibautJohn W. and KelleyHarold H.. 1959. The Social Psychology of Groups.New York: Wiley.
86.
ThyeShane R.1999. “Status Influence and Status Value.” pp. 248–255 in Network Exchange Theory, edited by WilierD.. Westport, CT: Praeger.
87.
ThyeShane R., LovagliaMichael J., and MarkovskyBarry. 1997. “Responses to Social Exchange and Social Exclusion in Networks.”Social Forces75:1031–47.
88.
TönniesFerdinand. 1953. “Estates and Classes.” pp. 49–63 in Class, Status and Power: A Reader in Social Stratification, edited by BendixR. and LipsetS. M.. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
89.
VeblenThorstein. 1899. The Theory of the Leisure Class.New York: Macmillan.
90.
WagnerDavid G.1984a. The Growth of Sociological Theories.London, England: Sage.
91.
WagnerDavid G.1984b. “The Labeling of Mental Illness as a Status Organizing Process.” pp. 127–44 in Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 1, edited by LawlerE. J.. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
92.
WagnerDavid G. and BergerJoseph. 1993. “Status Characteristics Theory: The Growth of a Program.” pp. 23–63 in Theoretical Research Programs: Studies in the Growth of Theory, edited by BergerJ. and ZelditchM.Jr. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
93.
WalkerHenry A. and CohenBernard P.. 1985. “Scope Statements: Imperatives for Evaluating Theory.”American Sociological Review50: 288–301.
94.
WalkerHenry A. and ZelditchMorrisJr. 1993. “Power, Legitimacy and Stability of Authority: A Theoretical Research Program.” pp. 364–81 in Theoretical Research Programs: Studies in the Growth of Theory, edited by BergerJ. and ZelditchM.Jr. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
95.
WeberMax. [1916] 1946. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Translated and edited by GerthH. H. and MillsC. W.. Reprint, New York: Oxford University Press.
96.
WeberMax. [1918] 1968. Economy and Society. Reprint. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
97.
WebsterMurrayJr. and HysomStuart J.. 1998. “Creating Status Characteristics.”American Sociological Review63:351–78.
98.
WilierDavid. 1981. “The Basic Concepts of Elementary Theory.” pp. 25–53 in Networks, Exchange, and Coercion, edited by WilierD. and AndersonB.. New York: Elsevier.
99.
WilierDavid and AndersonBo, eds. 1981. Networks, Exchange, and Coercion.New York: Elsevier.
100.
WilierDavid, LovagliaMichael J., and MarkovskyBarry. 1997. “Power and Influence: A Theoretical Bridge.”Social Forces76:571–603.
101.
WilierDavid and MarkovskyBarry. 1993. “Elementary Theory: Its Development and Research Program.” pp. 323–63 in Theoretical Research Programs: Studies in the Growth of Theory, edited by BergerJ. and ZelditchM.Jr. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
102.
YamagishiToshio, GillmoreMary R., and CookKaren S.. 1988. “Network Connections and the Distribution of Power in Exchange Networks.”American Journal of Sociology93:833–51.
103.
YamaguchiKazuo. 1996. “Power in Networks of Substitutable and Complementary Exchange Relations: A Rational-Choice Model and an Analysis of Power Centralization.”American Sociological Review61:308–32.
104.
YoonJeongkoo and SeokHyunho. 1996. “Conspicuous Consumption and Social Status in Korea: An Assessment of Reciprocal Effects.”Korea Journal of Population and Development25:333–54.
105.
ZelditchMorrisJr. 1992. “Interpersonal Power.” pp. 994–1001 in Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by BorgattaE. F. and BorgattaM. L.. New York: Macmillan.
