Collective Validation in Multi-Actor Task Groups: The Effects Of Status Differentiation

Abstract

Berger and his colleagues argue that collective validation (i.e., group members' corroboration of deferential behavior) is an important source of legitimacy in informal task groups. This invites the question “What causes collective validation?” Drawing from Simmel and Blau in particular, I develop an explanation of collective validation that conceives of actors as embedded in a structure of multiple status relations, and I introduce the concept of “systemic status differentiation.” Results from a laboratory study partially support the prediction that the likelihood of collective validation is related directly to the amount of systemic status differentiation. An alternative network-analytic model of status relations predicts collective validation most accurately. In addition, a time-series analysis reveals that status differentiation affects beliefs about the appropriateness of power and prestige relations through its effect on collective validation behavior. I offer suggestions for future theoretical and empirical work on status processes.