Group Processes and the Diffusion of Status Beliefs
Author(s)
Ridgeway, Cecilia; Balkwell, James W.
Abstract
How are consensual beliefs about the status-value of individual characteristics created in a society? A recent theory posits that inequalities in the distribution of resources in a population are translated into greater or lesser levels of consensus via social interaction in small groups. According to this theory, a macrostructural correlation between resources and a distinguishable individual differences variable constrains who interacts with whom and governs the group dynamics of these encounters. It engenders certain belief-acquisition processes that create and spread status beliefs about the variable, eventually making them consensual. We constructed a formal model of this diffusion process that includes the group interaction effects posited by the theory, also the effects of group size and the unmediated impact of macrostructural conditions. Calculations based on this new integrated formulation support most of the original theoretical analysis. In addition, simulation results suggest the likelihood that two- to four-person groups are especially important as creators and spreaders of status beliefs.
