A Critique of Expectation States Theory

1988 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Knottnerus
Keyword(s):  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Status Characteristics Theory ◽  
Expectation States ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Expectation States Theory ◽  
Functionalist Theory ◽  
Information Processing Perspective ◽  
Active Research

Expectation states theory and one of its major branches, status characteristics theory, have been some of the most active research programs within sociological social psychology in recent years. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to the theoretical assumptions underlying these programs and the way social cognition and status generalization are depicted. It is argued that structural functionalist theory and the information processing perspective, especially attribution theory, have exerted major influences on expectation states/status characteristics theory. This has resulted in unique conceptualizations of cognition, generalization, and status stereotypes colored by mechanistic and, in certain cases, rationalistic assumptions concerning the ways actors process information. Consideration of alternative ways of conceptualizing these issues reveals certain limitations in the theory's formulations. The need for further research and theory development is discussed.

scholarly journals The Neural Bases of Status-Based Influence

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 237802311770969 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Melamed ◽  
Will Kalkhoff ◽  
Siqi Han ◽  
Xiangrui Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Status Characteristics Theory ◽  
Expectation States ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
Status Differences

Status characteristics theory provides a theoretical explanation for why social status promotes social influence in collectively oriented task groups. It argues that status differences produce differences in expectation states, which are anticipations of task-related contributions. Those with an expectation advantage are more influential, contribute more often to group discussions, and so on. The authors conducted the first experimental test of status characteristics theory while participants were in a magnetic resonance imaging machine. This permitted the measurement of neural activity in brain regions found to be associated with processing social status. The results indicate that neural activity does not explain the effect of status on behavior.

The Impact of Concentrated Affluence and Disadvantage on the Pre-Adjudication Detention Decision: A Status Characteristics Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 915-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick G. Lowery ◽  
Jessica C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Status Characteristics Theory ◽  
Community Factors ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
Virginia Department ◽  
The Impact

Studies of racial disparities in juvenile justice are primarily organized around four theoretical frameworks: focal concerns, racial threat, symbolic threat, and attribution theory. Moreover, juvenile justice research sometimes neglects to pay close attention to the front-end outcome of pre-adjudication detention. Therefore, the present study contends that status characteristics theory may broaden our understanding of how and why disparities in pre-adjudication detention arise. Moreover, the present study seeks to find how juvenile justice disparities in pre-adjudication detention emerge across races, among other social, legal, and community factors. Therefore, the present study focuses on the pre-adjudication detention decisions of judges and probation officers, utilizing quantitative data from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice and merged with American Community Survey data.

Examining Medical Interview Asymmetry Using the Expectation States Approach

2005 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Gallagher ◽  
Stanford W. Gregory ◽  
Alison J. Bianchi ◽  
Paul J. Hartung ◽  
Sarah Harkness
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Standardized Patients ◽  
Medical Interview ◽  
Status Characteristics Theory ◽  
Power Differential ◽  
Clinical Interviews ◽  
Expectation States ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
The Status ◽  
Status Difference

In this study we examine medical interview asymmetry using the expectation states approach. Physicians lead clinical interviews because of a feature inherent in those interviews, namely the status difference between doctor and patient. This power differential varies: it is greatest when the biomedical aspects of the interview are emphasized. These observations are consistent with status characteristics theory (SCT), which is based on the expectation states approach to understanding the emergence of power-prestige orders in groups facing shared tasks. From an SCT perspective, when the required scope conditions are met the status characteristics of doctor and patient trigger expectation states that result in inequalities relevant to the biomedical tasks of the interview. We examine interactions between medical students and standardized patients from the perspective of SCT. We observe the emergence of vocal spectrum inequalities when the interview task is biomedical. Other nonverbal behavioral outcomes emerge as well, which are consistent with the asymmetry literature.

Can You Really Study an Army on the Internet? Comparing How Status Tasks Perform in the Laboratory and Online Settings

2021 ◽  
pp. 008117502110142
Author(s):  
Bianca Manago ◽  
Trenton D. Mize ◽  
Long Doan
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Expectation States ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
The Status ◽  
Expectation States Theory ◽  
Online Setting ◽  
Status Differences

Laboratory experiments have a long history within sociology, with their ability to test causality and their utility for directly observing behavior providing key advantages. One influential social psychological field, status characteristics and expectation states theory, has almost exclusively used laboratory experiments to test the theory. Unfortunately, laboratory experiments are resource intensive, requiring a research pool, laboratory space, and considerable amounts of time. For these and other reasons, social scientists are increasingly exploring the possibility of moving experiments from the lab to an online platform. Despite the advantages of the online setting, the transition from the lab is challenging, especially when studying behavior. In this project, we develop methods to translate the traditional status characteristics experimental setting from the laboratory to online. We conducted parallel laboratory and online behavioral experiments using three tasks from the status literature, comparing each task’s ability to differentiate on the basis of status distinctions. The tasks produce equivalent results in the online and laboratory environment; however, not all tasks are equally sensitive to status differences. Finally, we provide more general guidance on how to move vital aspects of laboratory studies, such as debriefing, suspicion checks, and scope condition checks, to the online setting.

Coworker feedback seeking and feedback environment in China: An expectation states theory approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenxing Gong ◽  
Mengshuang Liu ◽  
Di Xin ◽  
Faheem Gul Gilal ◽  
Kui Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design And Technology ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Feedback Seeking ◽  
Feedback Environment ◽  
Expectation States ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Expectation States Theory ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

We empirically explored the impact of feedback seeking, including feedback inquiry and monitoring, on the coworker feedback environment via coworker identification. Participants were 264 employees who worked in research and development, design, and technology sectors of industrial enterprises in China. The results indicated that feedback monitoring, feedback inquiry, and coworker identification were all positively related to the coworker feedback environment after controlling for the effects of demographic variables. Further, coworker identification fully mediated the relationship between feedback inquiry/monitoring and the coworker feedback environment. Our findings expand understanding of the feedback loop by bridging the gap between coworker feedback seeking and the coworker feedback environment. We recommend that coworkers encourage employees' feedback-seeking behavior so that the workplace feedback environment motivates them to ask for the help they need to work independently.

scholarly journals Lay and Professional Judges in Europe’s Labour Courts: Does the Professional Judge Dominate?

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-257
Author(s):  
Susan Corby ◽  
Pete Burgess ◽  
Armin Höland ◽  
Hélène Michel ◽  
Laurent Willemez
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Status Characteristics Theory ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
Institutional Differences

Abstract Several European countries have a first instance ‘mixed’ labour court, that is a judicial panel comprising a professional judge and two or more lay judges, the latter with experience as employees or employers/managers. The lay judges’ main contribution is their workplace knowledge, but they act in a juridical setting where legal norms prevail, so does the professional judge, despite being in a minority, dominate? This article seeks to address this question by focussing on first instance labour courts in Great Britain, Germany and France. Theories of differential power, particularly status characteristics theory, and previous empirical research indicate that professional judges dominate, but our findings are more nuanced. Based on 177 interviews in three countries, we find that professional judge dominance varies according to the country’s institutional context and the salience of lay judges’ workplace knowledge. These institutional differences, however, are mediated by the attitudes of the judicial actors. Many interviewees noted that some lay judges were more prepared to challenge the professional judge than others, whereas others observed that some professional judges were more inclusive than others.

scholarly journals Social Structures in Transition: Applications of Two Theories to Chiefdoms

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 237802311877175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Emanuelson ◽  
David Willer
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Theory ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
High Status ◽  
Structural Form ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Status Characteristics Theory ◽  
The Third ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
The Status ◽  
Lineage Structure

Status characteristics theory and elementary theory are applied to explain developments through three structural forms that chiefdoms are known to take. Theoretic models find that downward mobility inherent in the first form, the status-lineage structure, destabilizes its system of privilege. As a consequence, high-status actors are motivated to find mechanisms to preserve and enhance privilege. By engaging in hostile relations with other chiefdoms, high-status actors offer protection to low-status others from real or imagined threats. Through that protection, they gain tribute and support. The result is structural change from influence based on status to power exercised through indirect coercion, the second structural form. In settled societies, accumulation through war and selective redistribution contribute to separation of warrior and commoner rankings. That separation leads to the third structural form, direct coercive chiefdom.

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