Social Status Annotated Bibliography

7/30/2019 Social Status Annotated Bibliography

1/6

Meghan Young

ENG-1102

Mia Eaker

21 March 2013

Annotated Bibliography

My line of inquiry is Social Status. In my research I plan to determine how it is portrayed

in reality television, how high social status is achieved in different areas of America, and if the

status you have is prominently based on money. Below is a collection of sources that provide me

with this information.

"Social Status." Britannica Encyclopedia. Britannica Encyclopedia Inc., 2013. Web. 21 Mar.

2013.

The above citation is from the online Britannica Encyclopedia. The article gives states

that status is the rank an individual holds among others. It also states that there are two

types of social status: ascribed and achieved. Ascribed social status is assigned at birth

and has nothing to do with personal abilities. It is based mostly on sex, gender, race, and

family relationship. Achieved status on the other hand is based individual qualities and is

accomplished through individual efforts in competition as well as other things.

The Britannica Encyclopedia is an English Language encyclopedia that was first

published in 1768 by Britannica Encyclopedia Inc. It is written and edited by over 100

full time editors. The encyclopedia also has over 4,000 contributors. The information I


2/6

found in the encyclopedia broaden my knowledge about social status. I also learned that

there are two different types of social status.

O'Neil, Dennis. "Status and Role." Social Organization . 27 June 2006. Web. 21 Mar.

2013.

Status and Role, an article written by Dennis ONeil talks about the fact that achieved

and ascribed status exists in every society but that in different areas one is accepted more

than the other. The article gives the example that in North America achieved status is

accepted while ascribed status is rejected. In North America parents push their children to

be independent, to go to school, and become successful while in India ascribed status is

accepted over achieved status and has been that way for years. In India and other parts of

the world the social system is divided into classes and has been that way for thousands of

years.

When I searched the authors name for this article I got unclear results; however, I have

faith that this source is credible because it comes from the Palomar Community College

website and is also copy righted. The website it comes from appears to be educational

and can be used for teaching purposes. The information in this article strengthened my

knowledge and helped form my research that social status is different in every country

and supports my research on achieved social status in the United Status.


3/6

Berger, Arthur A. Ads, Fads, And Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact On American

Character And Society. Glossary (pg.201) Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. 21 Mar.

2013.

In the glossary of the book above I came across the term Cultivation Theory. This theory

argues that reality television dominates the symbolic environment people have and gives

them false ideas of what things really are. The definition also states that reality TV gives

people the idea that almost everyone is living "in upper-middle class splendor."

The author of the book, Arthur Berger, was a professor at San Francisco State from 1965-

2003. He taught Broadcasting and Communication Arts and in his lifetime he has written

60 published books and over 100 articles. The Cultivation Theory can be used in my

research because it supports my idea that reality TV portrays social status in the wrong

way. Reality TV is one of the most broadcasted types of programming watched by

society today and gives people the idea that all people belong to a middle class society or

higher because poverty is rarely broadcasted for the world to see.

Devine, Fiona. Social Class in America And Britain. Edinburgh University Press, 1997.

eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

This eBook was written by Fiona Devine and looks at social class in America and Britain.

The book explains the difference in social status between the two, but also things that

remain the same. On page 48 she dives into the subject of social mobility; deciding

whether the factors of gender, family background and education influence the rate of

success and failure in occupation that overall leads to achieving high social status.


4/6

Fiona Devine is a Professor of Sociology and head of School of Social Sciences. She is

also a published author and previously worked at the University of Liverpool. The

information found in her article is beneficial to my research because it looks at major

factors that contribute to social status in America.

5. Brasted, Monica. "Electronic Journal of Sociology (2004)." Through the Looking Glass: Class

and Reality in Television. CAAP, 2004. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

This article written by Monica Brasted focuses on the idea that people's social status

influences the way they perceive almost everything. Influencing things from the type of

food people eat, to the car they drive, to the types of clothing they buy. Monica Bastred

goes on to say that social status even influences our consumption of cultural products

such as television shows, theater events, and music performances. Meaning that

depending on your social standing you will attend different theater events, and watch

different TV shows as well as interpret what you see differently.

Monica Brasted received her Ph.D in Mass Communication from Pennsylvania State

University. Monica has been published ten times the first being in 2004. The information

I read from her article benefits to my research because it proves my theory that social

status has an effect on how people interpret television and other media.

Waytz, Adam. "The Psychology of Social Status: Scientific American." The Psychology of

Social Status: Scientific American. Web. 13 Mar. 2013


5/6

In the article The Psychology of Social Status author Adam Waytz writes about how

violence and social status are related. In the opening paragraphs he touches on the fact

that social status is always on peoples minds. His reasoning for this is supported by

research that shows that people are always thinking about themselves in relation to their

peers. He later goes on in this paragraph to say that there are certain methods recently

found that state that those at the bottom of the totem pole are most successful at climbing

to the top. Waytz also reveals another study that was done in the Southern United States.

What was found was that people of lower social status are quicker to protect themselves

and their things with violent behavior when they feel they are being threatened while

people of higher social status do not. This is the case because low-status people are much

more sensitive to being rejected and so they are more prone to watch the environment for

threats. However, this behavior is in fact the exact opposite of what low-status

individuals should be doing. Cameron Anderson and Gavin Kilduff proved this to be true

in research that showed those of higher social status attain that status by behaving

generously and helpfully to strengthen their value to their social group. So in the end the

ultimate way to climb the totem pole is to be nice and generous rather than mean and

selfish.

I found this article to be very helpful for my line of inquiry. It was interesting to hear a

positive perspective on the higher social status rather than a negative report that rights off

all high social status figures as selfish. It will help me in my line of inquiry because the

information was factual, direct, and also gave me a great idea of how high social status is

achieved in the Southern United States. The author of the article is Adam Waytz who is a

postdoctoral researcher in Psychology at Harvard University. He received a Ph.D. from


6/6

University of Chicago and developed a psychological theory of anthropomorphism based

on two motivational determinants and one cognitive determinant.

As I was researching I used a variety of search engines and databases such as:

EBSCOhost, Google, Bing, and ProQuest; however, I did not use all the information I found

through my research because a lot of it was not fully credible. The research method I found

most helpful was to read something I found on Google and then take that idea and search for

it on the EBSCOhost to find the credibility. Since EBSCOhost is a database run through the

university and it is full of scholarly journals and books it was the easiest way to know if the

source was credible or not.

After doing all my research I found that I had more search results on social class and how

its perceived. I also learned more about ascribed and achieved status which I plan to draw a

focus to in my paper through comparing them to one another. Learning that your social status

influences the way you perceive most things was new to me and developed my ideas that a

persons social status affects almost every part of their life.

With doing this research I have learned the true meaning of social status, the different

types of status, how social status is different across the world and that social status play a

larger role in reality TV than most people think. All the things I researched have been the

source of these ideas and I plan to address them all in my Round Table Paper.

Documents

Social Status Annotated Bibliography