Status affirmation: a strategy for upward mobility in dynamic status negotiations

People strive for high status - defined as the influence, prominence, and respect individuals have in a social group. In the context of status negotiations, where people simultaneously claim, react, and counteract efforts to achieve higher status, I introduce status affirmation as a novel strategy for status challengers to effectively gain status while managing the reactions of high status defenders. Specifically, I propose a two-component structure of the status affirmation process: interpersonal status affirmation – communicating one’s respect – and collective status affirmation – conveying appreciation for the high status target’s roles and responsibilities. The current paper explores the mechanism by which each component reduces the threat perceived by a challenged high status member and elicits cooperative/deferential behavior, which has positive downstream consequence of status gains for the challenger.