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Why do nominal characteristics acquire status value? A minimal explanation for status construction.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Mark, NP; Smith-Lovin, L; Ridgeway, CL
Published in: AJS; American journal of sociology
November 2009

Why do beliefs that attach different amounts of status to different categories of people become consensually held by the members of a society? We show that two microlevel mechanisms, in combination, imply a system-level tendency toward consensual status beliefs about a nominal characteristic. (1) Status belief diffusion: a person who has no status belief about a characteristic can acquire a status belief about that characteristic from interacting with one or more people who have that status belief. (2) Status belief loss: a person who has a status belief about a characteristic can lose that belief from interacting with one or more people who have the opposite status belief. These mechanisms imply that opposite status beliefs will tend to be lost at equal rates and will tend to be acquired at rates proportional to their prevalence. Therefore, if a status belief ever becomes more prevalent than its opposite, it will increase in prevalence until every person holds it.

Duke Scholars

Published In

AJS; American journal of sociology

DOI

EISSN

1537-5390

ISSN

0002-9602

Publication Date

November 2009

Volume

115

Issue

3

Start / End Page

832 / 862

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Social Values
  • Social Perception
  • Social Identification
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Humans
  • Hierarchy, Social
  • Culture
  • 4410 Sociology
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Mark, N. P., Smith-Lovin, L., & Ridgeway, C. L. (2009). Why do nominal characteristics acquire status value? A minimal explanation for status construction. AJS; American Journal of Sociology, 115(3), 832–862. https://doi.org/10.1086/606142
Mark, Noah P., Lynn Smith-Lovin, and Cecilia L. Ridgeway. “Why do nominal characteristics acquire status value? A minimal explanation for status construction.AJS; American Journal of Sociology 115, no. 3 (November 2009): 832–62. https://doi.org/10.1086/606142.
Mark NP, Smith-Lovin L, Ridgeway CL. Why do nominal characteristics acquire status value? A minimal explanation for status construction. AJS; American journal of sociology. 2009 Nov;115(3):832–62.
Mark, Noah P., et al. “Why do nominal characteristics acquire status value? A minimal explanation for status construction.AJS; American Journal of Sociology, vol. 115, no. 3, Nov. 2009, pp. 832–62. Epmc, doi:10.1086/606142.
Mark NP, Smith-Lovin L, Ridgeway CL. Why do nominal characteristics acquire status value? A minimal explanation for status construction. AJS; American journal of sociology. 2009 Nov;115(3):832–862.
Journal cover image

Published In

AJS; American journal of sociology

DOI

EISSN

1537-5390

ISSN

0002-9602

Publication Date

November 2009

Volume

115

Issue

3

Start / End Page

832 / 862

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Social Values
  • Social Perception
  • Social Identification
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Humans
  • Hierarchy, Social
  • Culture
  • 4410 Sociology