Belonging is a central human aspiration, one that has drawn attention from sociologists and social psychologists alike. Who is likely to realize this aspiration? This paper addresses that question by examining how “we-feeling”—the experience of gemeinschaft—is distributed within small groups. Previous research has argued that the feeling of belonging is positively related to a person’s social status through a cumulative advantage process. But high status can recast the responsibilities of group life as burdens if a person regards them as incongruent with his or her rank, and this can dim one’s feelings toward the group. This paper proposes that a “high-status penalty” diminishes we-feeling for high-ranking individuals, thereby concentrating we-feeling in the middle of a status hierarchy. It tests this theory using data from the Urban Communes Project, a survey of 60 naturally occurring communities. The findings suggest that status-incongruent responsibilities can suppress the benefits of status at the top of a hierarchy.
AndersonCameronKrausMichael W.GalinskyAdam D.KeltnerDacher. 2012. “The Local-Ladder Effect: Social Status and Subjective Well-Being.” Psychological Science23(7):764–71.
2.
AndersonCameronWillerRobb. 2014. “Do Status Hierarchies Benefit Groups? A Bounded Functionalist Account of Status.” Pp. 47–70 in The Psychology of Social Status, edited by ChengJ. T.TracyJ. L.AndersonC.New York: Springer.
3.
BennettJohn W.1975. “Communes and Communitarianism.” Theory and Society2(1):63–94.
4.
BergerJosephRosenholtzSusan J.ZelditchMorris. 1980. “Status Organizing Processes.” Annual Review of Sociology6(1):479–508.
5.
BladerSteven L.ChenYa-Ru. 2014. “What’s in a Name? Status, Power, and Other Forms of Social Hierarchy.” Pp. 71–95 in The Psychology of Social Status, edited by ChengJ. T.TracyJ. L.AndersonC.New York: Springer.
6.
BrewerMarilynn B.GardnerWendi. 1996. “Who Is This ‘We’? Levels of Collective Identity and Self Representations.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology71:83–93.
7.
BrintSteven. 2001. “Gemeinschaft Revisited: A Critique and Reconstruction of the Community Concept.” Sociological Theory19(1):1–23.
8.
ChengJoey T.TracyJessica L.2014. “Toward a Unified Science of Hierarchy: Dominance and Prestige Are Two Fundamental Pathways to Human Social Rank.” Pp. 3–27 in The Psychology of Social Status, edited by ChengJ. T.TracyJ. L.AndersonC.New York: Springer.
9.
ChengJoey T.TracyJessica L.FoulshamTomKingstoneAlanHenrichJoseph. 2013. “Two Ways to the Top: Evidence That Dominance and Prestige Are Distinct yet Viable Avenues to Social Rank and Influence.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology104(1):103–25.
10.
CollinsRandall. 1990. “Stratification, Emotional Energy, and the Transient Emotions.” Pp. 27–57 in Research Agendas in the Sociology of Emotions, edited by KemperT. D.Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
11.
CollinsRandall. 2000. “Situational Stratification: A Micro-Macro Theory of Inequality.” Sociological Theory18(1):17–43.
12.
CollinsRandall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
13.
CooleyCharles Horton. 1909. Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
14.
DiPreteThomas A.EirichGregory M.2006. “Cumulative Advantage as a Mechanism for Inequality: A Review of Theoretical and Empirical Developments.” Annual Review of Sociology32(1):271–97.
15.
DurkheimEmile. [1925] 1961. Moral Education. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe.
16.
EtzioniAmitai. 1996. The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society. New York: Basic Books.
17.
FiskeSusan T.2010a. “Interpersonal Stratification: Status, Power, and Subordination.” Pp. 941–82 in Handbook of Social Psychology, edited by FiskeS. T.GilbertD. T.LindzeyG.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
18.
FiskeSusan T.2010b. Social Beings: Core Motives in Social Psychology. 2nd ed.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
19.
FragaleAlison R.OverbeckJennifer R.NealeMargaret A.2011. “Resources Versus Respect: Social Judgments Based on Targets’ Power and Status Positions.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology47(4):767–75.
20.
GoffmanErving. 1967. Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. New York: Pantheon Books.
21.
HubermanBernardo A.LochChristoph H.ÖnçülerAyse. 2004. “Status as a Valued Resource.” Social Psychology Quarterly67(1):103–14.
22.
IrwinKyleSimpsonBrent. 2013. “Do Descriptive Norms Solve Social Dilemmas? Conformity and Contributions in Collective Action Groups.” Social Forces91(3):1057–84.
23.
JettenJolandaHaslamCatherineHaslamS. Alexander, eds. 2012. The Social Cure: Identity, Health and Well-Being. New York: Psychology Press.
24.
KanterRosabeth Moss. 1972. Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
25.
KellerSuzanne. 2003. Community: Pursuing the Dream, Living the Reality. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
26.
KemperTheodore D.1991. “Predicting Emotions from Social Relations.” Social Psychology Quarterly54(4):330–42.
27.
KuwabaraKo. 2011. “Cohesion, Cooperation, and the Value of Doing Things Together: How Economic Exchange Creates Relational Bonds.” American Sociological Review76(4):560–80.
28.
LawlerEdward J.2001. “An Affect Theory of Social Exchange.” American Journal of Sociology107(2):321–52.
29.
LawlerEdward J.ThyeShane R.YoonJeongkoo. 2000. “Emotion and Group Cohesion in Productive Exchange.” American Journal of Sociology106(3):616–57.
30.
LawlerEdward J.ThyeShane R.YoonJeongkoo. 2008. “Social Exchange and Micro Social Order.” American Sociological Review73(4):519–42.
31.
LawlerEdward J.ThyeShane R.YoonJeongkoo. 2009. Social Commitments in a Depersonalized World. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
32.
LovagliaMichael J.HouserJeffrey A.1996. “Emotional Reactions and Status in Groups.” American Sociological Review61(5):867–83.
33.
MageeJoe C.GalinskyAdam D.2008. “Social Hierarchy: The Self-Reinforcing Nature of Power and Status.” Academy of Management Annals2(1):351–98.
34.
MartinJohn Levi. 1998. “Structures of Power in Naturally Occurring Communities.” Social Networks20(3):197–225.
35.
MartinJohn Levi. 2002. “Power, Authority, and the Constraint of Belief Systems.” American Journal of Sociology107(4):861–904.
36.
MartinJohn Levi. 2005. “Is Power Sexy?”American Journal of Sociology111(2):408–46.
37.
MartinJohn Levi. 2009. “Formation and Stabilization of Vertical Hierarchies among Adolescents: Towards a Quantitative Ethology of Dominance among Humans.” Social Psychology Quarterly72(3):241–64.
38.
MartinJohn LeviVan GuntenTodZablockiBenjamin D.2012. “Charisma, Status, and Gender in Groups with and without Gurus.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion51(1):20–41.
39.
MartinJohn LeviYeungKing-ToZablockiBenjamin D.2001. “The Urban Communes Data Set: A Gold Mine for Secondary Analysis.” Connections24(2):54–58.
40.
MaslowAbraham H.1943. “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review50(4):370–96.
41.
MolmLinda D.CollettJessica L.SchaeferDavid R.2007. “Building Solidarity through Generalized Exchange: A Theory of Reciprocity.” American Journal of Sociology113(1):205–42.
42.
MolmLinda D.SchaeferDavid R.CollettJessica L.2007. “The Value of Reciprocity.” Social Psychology Quarterly70(2):199–217.
43.
RidgewayCeciliaWalkerHenry. 1995. “Status Structures.” Pp. 281–301 in Sociological Perspectives on Social Psychology, edited by CookK. S.FineG. A.HouseJ. S.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
44.
SimpsonBrentWillerRobbRidgewayCecilia L.2012. “Status Hierarchies and the Organization of Collective Action.” Sociological Theory30(3):149–66.
45.
TönniesFerdinand. [1897] 1963. Community and Society. New York: Harper & Row.
46.
TönniesFerdinand. 1905. “The Present Problems of Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology10(5):569–88.
47.
VaiseyStephen. 2007. “Structure, Culture, and Community: The Search for Belonging in 50 Urban Communes.” American Sociological Review72(6):851–73.
48.
WillerRobb. 2009. “Groups Reward Individual Sacrifice: The Status Solution to the Collective Action Problem.” American Sociological Review74(1):23–43.
49.
WuthnowRobert. 1994. Sharing the Journey: Support Groups and the Quest for a New Community. New York: Free Press.
50.
YeungKing-ToMartinJohn Levi. 2003. “The Looking Glass Self: An Empirical Test and Elaboration.” Social Forces81(3):843–79.
51.
ZablockiBenjamin. 1980. Alienation and Charisma: A Study of Contemporary American Communes. New York: Free Press.
