To what extent has there been a discussion on the effect of gender on the prevalence and importance of status-seeking behavior? If it hasn’t been discussed, may I suggest this thread to begin one?
I would probably have nothing to contribute, since I find the literature difficult to sift through, but it strikes me that much of what I’m reading (tendency to be over-confident, status as a primary motivation, etc.) would apply asymmetrically more to men than women.
(For example, in response to pjeby’s comment distinguishing identity and status, I think I recall reading an argument that women tend to be more concerned with identity than status. Also—if this is related—in conversations women are more likely to non-competitively try to elevate or maintain the status of the person they’re speaking with, and are more likely to choose behaviors that maintain the status of people in a group. Disclaimer: I don’t assert any of this, but recall hearing these arguments.)
I haven’t read any literature on this issue specifically, but I suggest that most such literature would have a high tendency to be biased by societal pressures.
My experience is that women in certain kinds of overtly female-centric social situations (e.g. feminism communities, fat acceptance communities, some subsections of the disability community) are just as concerned with status as men are in normal circumstances. Women in mixed-gender social situations seem to tend to automatically assume that they’re considered outsiders, and react to that by defending each other and deferring to authority. They also seem to assume that attempting to gain status in such situations is futile, or can only be achieved by playing to the stereotypes of how women are supposed to behave, depending on the situation. (These assumptions may, in fact, be correct in most situations.) That assumption of outsider-ness seems to me like it would also manifest as a heightened awareness of identity, as identity is an important part of the situation at hand.
To what extent has there been a discussion on the effect of gender on the prevalence and importance of status-seeking behavior? If it hasn’t been discussed, may I suggest this thread to begin one?
I would probably have nothing to contribute, since I find the literature difficult to sift through, but it strikes me that much of what I’m reading (tendency to be over-confident, status as a primary motivation, etc.) would apply asymmetrically more to men than women.
(For example, in response to pjeby’s comment distinguishing identity and status, I think I recall reading an argument that women tend to be more concerned with identity than status. Also—if this is related—in conversations women are more likely to non-competitively try to elevate or maintain the status of the person they’re speaking with, and are more likely to choose behaviors that maintain the status of people in a group. Disclaimer: I don’t assert any of this, but recall hearing these arguments.)
I haven’t read any literature on this issue specifically, but I suggest that most such literature would have a high tendency to be biased by societal pressures.
My experience is that women in certain kinds of overtly female-centric social situations (e.g. feminism communities, fat acceptance communities, some subsections of the disability community) are just as concerned with status as men are in normal circumstances. Women in mixed-gender social situations seem to tend to automatically assume that they’re considered outsiders, and react to that by defending each other and deferring to authority. They also seem to assume that attempting to gain status in such situations is futile, or can only be achieved by playing to the stereotypes of how women are supposed to behave, depending on the situation. (These assumptions may, in fact, be correct in most situations.) That assumption of outsider-ness seems to me like it would also manifest as a heightened awareness of identity, as identity is an important part of the situation at hand.