Abstract:
Status—the value people are accorded by others—is a basic dimension of social stratification. There is, however, an ambiguity as to what sociologists mean when they talk about status differences: they can be differences in the overall amount of esteem individuals receive from various others; or differences in how any individual distributes their esteem over a population of others. Building on this distinction, this review essay shows that recent status scholarship can be usefully organized into two broad approaches: the first studies status inequality, or inequality in the displays of esteem or deference people amass from all others in social life; the second studies status hierarchies, or sets of relations of value superiority, equality, and inferiority people perceive among others. While status inequality is a structural phenomenon that is often examined for its winner-take-all character, status hierarchies are cultural phenomena that can be studied for their content, shape, sharedness, as well as for how individuals acquire both specific status hierarchies and a broader “hierarchical gaze” on their environment. To make these points, I review empirical work on a wide range of status systems, from small peer groups to racial hierarchies and occupational prestige hierarchies.