Activity Question

STATUS

& Expectation States

ORGANIZING

01.EXPECTATION STATES THEORY Aims to explain how our preconceived notions about others, based on their identities, are the basis for status hierarchies in small groups

TASK ORIENTED Individuals are task oriented when they are primarily motivated towards solving a problem

Individuals are collectively oriented when they consider it legitimate & necessary to take into account each other’s contributions when completing the task

COLLECTIVELY ORIENTED Seeks to explain the emergence

of status hierarchies in situations where actors are

oriented toward the accomplishment of a collective

goal or task

EXPECTATION STATES THEORY

SPECIFIC SKILLS & ABILITIES RELEVANT TO THE TASK

Such as prior experience or training related to the

task at hand

CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH PERCEIVED SUPERIORITY

Such as gender, age, race, education, & physical

attractiveness

EVALUATION CRITERIA

01 02

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATION STATES

01

The shared focus on the group’s goal

generates a pressure to anticipate the relative value of

each member

02

When members anticipate one will make more valuable contributions, they will likely defer to

this individual

03

These implicit anticipations of the relative quality of members’ performance

are performance expectation states

Value Deference Expectation

Expectation States Theory

Expectation States Theory explains why social

hierarchies emerge in small, task-oriented groups. Both

known information & implicit assumptions, based on status

characteristics, result in the evaluations of someone’s ability to contribute to the

task at hand

When the combination is favorable, we will have a positive view of a person’s ability to contribute to the task & vice versa

A

This results in a hierarchy where one’s position corresponds to the level of esteem & influence within the group

B

The Formation of Performance Expectations & Status Hierarchies

Socially significant

characteristics

Social rewards

Behavioral interchange patterns

Performance expectations

Behavioral inequalities/ status hierarchies

02.STATUS CHARACTERISTICS

THEORY

Focuses on the way certain evaluations or attitudes

shape interactional behavior

ACTIVATE GENERAL & SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS ABOUT PERFORMANCE

Differentially valued attributes associated with sex, as well as generalized expectations about which sex will be more or less capable in different situations

GENERATE DISTINCT EXPECTATIONS ABOUT SPECIFIC ABILITIES

Mathematical ability, creative writing, etc. Has the potential to affect the status organizing

process in a task-related setting, if the ability is

relevant to the task

TYPES OF STATUS CHARACTERISTICS

DIFFUSE SPECIFIC

DIFFERENTIATION

Even when unrelated to the task, group members will form expectations & act as if the information is relevant

When group members collectively believe that a particular characteristic is relevant to the task

Differentiation of group members occurs when there are differing states of status characteristics within a group

ASSUMPTIONS Status characteristics

theory seeks to explain how beliefs about status characteristics get

translated into performance expectations, which shape

the behaviors of individuals in a group. In other words, it explores the process of

attributing specific abilities to individuals

based on the status characteristics they

possess.

Five assumptions that link beliefs about status to behavior

ASSUMPTIONS

03 Comparison Assumption

04 Sequencing Assumption

Aggregate Assumption

05

Salience Assumption

Burden of Proof Assumption

01 02

—BRIAN TRACY

“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily,

even if you had no title or position.”

” Author & Motivational Speaker

No idea who Brian Tracy is, but I thought this quote was

perfect for the section because EST focuses less on

those formal hierarchies (e.g., boss/employee) & more

on those less formal group hierarchies. So, even though

someone doesn’t hold a formal title or position,

they are still held in higher esteem & have more influence within a group. Expectation states theory

explores this aspect of group processes.

Reason for choosing this quote

Kind of like Regina George - no one elected her to be the group’s leader but she is the member with the most status & influence over the group

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ALL! THAT’S