Who Belongs? How Status Influences the Experience of Gemeinschaft

Abstract

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.