On Ladders and Pyramids: Hierarchy's Functional Form Shapes Its Consequences for Social Relationships and Group Outcomes

Social and organizational hierarchies are ubiquitous as they are diverse. Although hierarchies come in many shapes and forms, little is known about the psychological consequences of different hierarchical structures for individuals and groups. Theoretically integrating the literatures on social hierarchy, social relationships, and group processes, we propose and empirically demonstrate that the functional form that hierarchy takes impacts hierarchy's consequences. Three studies contrasted two distinct hierarchical structures - ladders and pyramids - to explore when, why and how hierarchy supports versus undermines intra-group social relationships and constructive group processes. Building on recent conceptual and methodological advances in research on psychological situations, Study 1 demonstrated that individuals attach different social relationships related psychological meanings to ladder-shaped versus pyramid-shaped hierarchical structures. Study 2 surveyed employed adults about the functional form of their team hierarchy at work. Ladder-shaped, but not pyramid-shaped hierarchies, were associated with worse intra-team social relationships and greater competition for prominence hierarchical standings within teams. Study 3 experimentally manipulated teams' hierarchical structure in a lab setting and demonstrated the causal chain of our full model-Ladder-shaped hierarchy undermined intra-team social relationships, thereby increasing within-team hierarchical conflict and team performance. Taken together, these findings enhance our understanding of the multifaceted ways in which hierarchy shapes the lives of individuals and groups.