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8
Social Hierarchy:
The Self-Reinforcing Nature of Power and Status
JOE C. MAGEE*
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
ADAM D. GALINSKY
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Academy
10.1080/19416520802211628
RAMA_A_321329.sgm
1941-6520
Original
Taylor
2102008
bch6@msb.edu
BrooksHoltom
00000August
and
&
Article
Francis
of(print)/1941-6067
Francis
Management
2008
Annals
(online)
Abstract
Hierarchy is such a defining and pervasive feature of organizations that its
forms and basic functions are often taken for granted in organizational
research. In this review, we revisit some basic psychological and sociological
elements of hierarchy and argue that status and power are two important yet
distinct bases of hierarchical differentiation. We first define power and status
and distinguish our definitions from previous conceptualizations. We then
integrate a number of different literatures to explain why status and power hierarchies tend to be self-reinforcing. Power, related to ones control over valued
resources, transforms individual psychology such that the powerful think and
act in ways that lead to the retention and acquisition of power. Status, related
to the respect one has in the eyes of others, generates expectations for behavior
*Corresponding author. Email: joe.magee@wagner.nyu.edu
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