Get Off My Back! The Impact of Status Distance and Status Change on Social Undermining

This research examines the conditions under which intragroup status structures can lead to social undermining. Going beyond ordinal measures of status, the present work introduces and highlights the usefulness of capturing status distance and status change. By introducing this additional measurement-based variance the current work is able to predict both when and why differences in status can lead to social undermining. Implications for status theory and the conflicts inherent in group life are discussed