Status—a socially defined position group members by others—permeates every society. Status is a significant motivator and has major behavioral consequences when individuals perceive a disparity between what they believe their status is and what others perceive it to be. Status has some interesting effects on the power of norms and pressures to conform. High-status individuals may be more likely to deviate from norms when they have low identification (social identity) with the group.

People tend to become more assertive when they seek to attain higher status in a group. Lower-status members tend to participate less actively in group discussions. But that doesn’t mean a group of only high-status individuals would be preferable. Group performance suffers when too many high-status people are in the mix. It is important for group members to believe the status hierarchy is equitable. Large differences in status within groups are also associated with poorer individual performance.

Groups generally agree within themselves on status criteria; hence, there is usually high concurrence on group rankings of individuals. Factors like size of budget managed or seniority may be determinants of status. Although it’s clear that your own status affects the way people perceive you, the status of people with whom you are affiliated can also affect others’ views of you. This “stigma by association” effect can result in negative opinions and evaluations of the person affiliated with the stigmatized individual, even if the association is brief and purely coincidental.