title: Knowing your place: self-perceptions of status in face-to-face groups.
abstract: Status is the prominence, respect, and influence individuals enjoy in the eyes of others. Theories of positive illusions suggest that individuals form overly positive perceptions of their status in face-to-face groups. In contrast, the authors argue that individuals' perceptions of their status are highly accurate--that is, they closely match the group's perception of their status--because forming overly positive status self-perceptions can damage individuals' acceptance in a group. Therefore, the authors further argue that individuals are likely to refrain from status self-enhancement to maintain their belongingness in a group. Support for their hypotheses was found in 2 studies of status in face-to-face groups, using a social relations model approach (D. A. Kenny & L. La Voie, 1984). Individuals showed high accuracy in perceiving their status and even erred on the side of being overly humble. Moreover, enhancement in status self-perceptions was associated with lower levels of social acceptance.
authors.affiliation: Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900, USA. anderson@haas.berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Cameron
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.forename: Sandra E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Spataro
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Chatman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006127:Group Structure; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification