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Status Contagion_Thesis.pdf (1.4 MB)

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Status Contagion: The Spread of Status Value between People

Overton, Jon
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1766-1927
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1530180135926931

Abstract Details

2018, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology.
A classic insight of social psychology is that we are known by the company we keep. However, the notion that "who you know" can affect one's position in a status hierarchy is notably absent from the theory of status characteristics and expectation states. I propose that status (perceived competence) will become “contagious” such that a person will be seen as favorably as their past co-workers: experience with highly competent co-workers is advantaging, while experience with severely incompetent co-workers is disadvantaging. I propose two competing mechanisms: 1) affiliation, in which former co-workers' status always becomes contagious, and 2) learning, in which status only becomes contagious when the earlier task with former co-workers is perceived as relevant to the current task. These mechanisms are tested using data collected from an online experiment. Results support the contagion argument in line with the learning mechanism. Implications for inequality and social mobility are discussed.
Will Kalkhoff, PhD (Advisor)
Susan Fisk, PhD (Committee Member)
Richard Serpe, PhD (Committee Member)
Shane Thye, PhD (Committee Member)
55 p.
Social Psychology; Sociology
Status; status value; contagion; diffusion; social capital

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Overton, J. (2018). Status Contagion: The Spread of Status Value between People [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1530180135926931

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Overton, Jon. Status Contagion: The Spread of Status Value between People. 2018. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1530180135926931.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Overton, Jon. "Status Contagion: The Spread of Status Value between People." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1530180135926931

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1530180135926931
833
© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.