The One Thing Everyone — Yes Everyone! — Really Wants
People may be very different, but there’s one thing everyone wants from friends and peers, research shows. (Photo: Getty Images/Portra Images)
You may not have a deep desire for a cushy job, designer duds, or a luxury car. But according to a new research review, everyone — yes, everyone — has the need for a high level of social status.
Theorists have debated this question for decades: Is it human nature to want high standing in one’s social circle, profession, or society in general?
So researchers from University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business reviewed hundreds of studies to find out. Their conclusion: Each person, whether they realize it or not, cares about their status. The findings were published in the journal Psychological Bulletin.
Status is defined as respect or admiration, voluntary deference (people willingly listening to you), and social value (possessing characteristics that others want to emulate), according to lead study author Cameron Anderson, PhD.
“If you are seen as important and as someone who possesses socially valued characteristics, you have high status,” Anderson tells Yahoo Health. And since status influences the way others think and behave, it makes status a universally important issue. “Whenever you don’t feel valued by others it hurts, and the lack of status hurts more people than we think.”
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Anderson explains that both respect and admiration have to do with one’s self-esteem and involve others thinking highly of you. “For example, religious leaders, such as a pastor or rabbi, often have higher status in their church or synagogue, in that they are looked up to,” he says.
Anderson and his colleagues also discovered a link between low social status and health. Their research showed that those who felt low on the totem poll personally, professionally or within their community were more likely to suffer from chronic conditions, including depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular disease.
One of the possible reasons for this connection may have to do with feeling a lack of control. “Knowing that other people have more say over joint decisions and other people will be given more opportunities to speak while you will be more ignored and your opinions will be given little attention — this lack of control has been shown to be devastating to both mental and physical health,” he says.
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The research doesn’t show whether low social status leads to being sick, or vice versa. “However, my strong hunch is that status and health both affect each other,” Anderson says. “Yes, having poorer health might diminish your status. But having low status has been shown to causally affect things like temporary stress levels, self-esteem, happiness, anxiety — outcomes that are very related to chronic ill health.”
And for those who may now be thinking, “How can I climb the status ladder?” Anderson offers this advice:
Step 1: “Develop competencies and skills that are seen as valuable in the arena you want to attain high status,” Anderson says. Translation: Get good at something. “What abilities and characteristics are seen as important at work? Among your friends? Or on the playing field?” he asks.
Step 2: Share your skills — and make it known that you use your talents for the good of others. “For example,” Anderson says, “If you’re a gifted athlete, will you work hard to help your team win and will you help your teammates improve their own skills?”
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