Social status
Social status is the "standing", the honour or
prestige attached to one's position in
society. Note that social status is influenced by
social position.
In modern societies,
occupation is usually thought of as the main dimension of status, but even in modern societies other memberships or affiliations (such as
ethnic group,
religion,
gender, voluntary associations,
fandom,
hobby) can have an influence. A
doctor will have higher status than a
factory worker, for instance, but in some societies a
white Protestant doctor will have higher status than an
immigrant doctor of
minority religion. In pre-modern societies, status differentiation is widely varied. In some cases it can be quite rigid and class based, such as with the
Indian
caste system.
In other cases, status exists without class and/or informally, as is true with some
Hunter-Gatherer societies such as the
Khoisan, and some
Indigenous Australian societies. In these cases, status is limited to specific personal relationships. For example, a
!Kung man is expected to take his mother-in-law (his wife's mother) quite seriously; but the mother-in-law has no "status" over anyone but her son-in-law--and only then in certain contexts. All societies have a form of social status.
Status is a key idea in
social stratification.
Max Weber distinguishes status from
social class, but some contemporary empirical sociologists fuse the two ideas into
Socio-Economic Status or SES, usually operationalised as a simple
index of
income,
education and occupational prestige.
Status inconsistency is a situation when an individual's social positions have both positive and negative influences on his social status. For example, a
teacher has a positive societal image (respect, prestige) which increases his status but may earn little
money, which simultaneously
decreases his status. A
drug dealer, on the other hand, may have low social position but high income.
Statuses based on inborn characteristics, such as gender, are called
ascribed statuses, while statuses that individuals gained thorough their own efforts are called
achieved statuses. Certain behaviors carry social
stigmas that can affect status.
* Michael Marmot (2004),
The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity, Times Books
* Botton, Alain De (2004),
Status Anxiety, Hamish Hamilton
*
Ascribed status*
Achieved status*
Conspicuous consumption*
Power*
Social class*
Social hierarchy*
Social structure of the United States*
Status class*
Status group*
Status symbol
