The Two Towers (or Somewhere in Between): The Behavioral Consequences of Positional Inconsistency across Status Hierarchies

We examine how actors react to status inconsistencies across multiple status hierarchies. We argue that pluralistic value systems create multiple status conferral mechanisms, and that hierarchies’ prestige varies as a function of the values they represent. While status inconsistency, in general, increases the likelihood that actors will pursue opportunities that can boost their lagging status, their status hierarchies’ unequal prestige influences the magnitude and direction of actors’ responses to their status inconsistency. Further, their ability to respond is constrained by their relative standing in their primary status hierarchy and the extent to which they are embedded in particular professional networks. Using the artistic and commercial status of Hollywood performers, we found that status-inconsistent performers were more likely to appear in films that could boost their lagging status in the commercial hierarchy when they possessed relatively higher artistic than commercial status. Moreover, being high-status decreased the likelihood a performer would pursue opportunities that could improve their lagging status only when they were high status in the artistic status hierarchy, while embeddedness only decreased the likelihood when their primary status hierarchy was commercial.