Despite strong evidence that task group status hierarchy instability is dysfunctional, little research has considered … hierarchy that is expressed as status conflict in the contexts of groups with varying levels of consensus about the status … hierarchy. We find that group hierarchies are least stable when there is both a high level of status conflict and low consensus …

hierarchy is so pervasive across groups and organizations. We argue that status and power are two distinct and important bases … of hierarchical differentiation, and we integrate a number of different literatures to explain why status and power … psychologically such that they think and act in ways that lead to the acquisition and retention of power. Status, related to the …

individuals’ sociometric status (e.g., status conferrals based on positive interpersonal affect and perceived competence, and … status degradations based on negative interpersonal affect) and their attempts to directly control their peers’ behaviour … over a year's time. Results show that multiple informal sociometric status hierarchies develop early in the organization …