Abstract

In this chapter we give an overview of our research program in which we investigate how status affects the influence behavior of people in co-operative task groups. Based on expectation states theory (Berger, Wagner, & Zelditch, 1985) we investigated in which situations self-oriented or group-oriented motivations underlie influence differentials. The results of four laboratory experiments suggest that participants were only group-oriented when their relative status positions were unlikely to change. As soon as there was a possibility that status relations might change, the participants became self-oriented; they showed a greater reluctance to accept influence and tried to influence others more often. The implications of the results for expectation states theory and the literature on social influence are discussed.