Who Attains Status (And How Do They Attain It)?

Machiavelli had his opinions about status (source)

"Of Mankind we may say in general they are fickle, and greedy of gain."  --Machiavelli (1532)

In several of the posts on this blog, we have written about the various forms and functions of social hierarchies in society. For instance, we have written about the perils of economic inequality here and here, we have written (here) about how power can corrupt people--unless they are prosocially oriented (read: nice), we have written (here) about our paradoxical need for status hierarchies despite some of their negative qualities, and finally, we have written about various aspects of obedience to authority figures (here and here). Extending our tour of social hierarchy, today I'd like to discuss who attains status, and precisely how they attain it.

As we have discussed in a previous post, having high status is good for your social life, your health, and your well-being. We also know that people pursue high status in their daily lives-- although not all people do so with the same success or the same vigor. Here I will outline some of the keys to status attainment in face-to-face groups.

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You’re a psychologist, right? What do you mean you don’t see clients?!

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Perhaps you, our most interested and involved reader, have taken a look at the “About the Bloggers/Researchers” section of Psych Your Mind (PYM). Here you learned that we’re either doctoral candidates (Amie, Juli, and I) or post doctoral scholars (Michael) in psychology. Like many of my friends and family, you might be confused about what that actually means. For example, when I tell people that I’m a psychologist, they naturally assume that I’m a therapist and see clients. Then, when I try to clarify, and explain that I’m actually a social-personality psychologist, not a clinical psychologist, I’m regularly greeted with a puzzled expression, and the question – “What the heck is that?”

Given that it’s Friday Fun, and you might be looking for a break from our (very) interesting, yet dense, research reviews, I thought I’d take a moment to step back and tell our readers a little more about us at Psych Your Mind.
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Understanding Mean Girls

Regina from Mean Girls

"She's fabulous, but she's evil," social outcast Damian famously says about queen bee Regina George in the 2004 film Mean Girls. This line seems to perfectly capture our culture's love/hate relationship with so-called mean girls.

On the one hand, we're obsessed with them. Another Mean Girls sequel, Mean Moms, is forthcoming, and reality TV is replete with real-life mean girls of all kinds (for example, see these clips from The Real Housewives of New York, The Jersey Shore, and The Hills). Even after high school, we look to cultural alphas, such as high-profile celebrities, for advice on how to dress, what to eat (even if it's just lemon juice and cayenne pepper), and even how to surgically alter ourselves (see I want a famous face). There are apparently even elderly mean girls.

On the other hand, we resent their power and love to bring them down, which is probably why so many mean girl-centered movies (Heathers, Saved!, Sixteen Candles, etc) feature the demise of the queen bee and the triumph of the downtrodden, and why powerful female politicians are often torn apart by the media. See, for example, Carly Fiorina's infamous "mean girl moment" or Maureen Dowd's column on mean girl politicians. (Dowd herself was later accused of being "the ultimate mean girl").

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How to write your resume with quantifiable results

Quantity over quality....for your resume?

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Companies are looking for potential employees who can help them generate revenue, reduce cost, and/or increase efficiencies. Thus resumes should include quantifiable results of accomplishments. However, some job seekers have a hard time quantifying their accomplishments. Below is a 5 step approach job seekers can follow to enhance their resumes.



1. Determine which Accomplishments to Highlight: Review the reasons why you were hired, the problems you solved, and/or tasks you completed in your previous positions.



2. Identify Appropriate Metrics: Review how your performance was measured to determine the appropriate metrics that can highlight your results. Sample metrics are below for various professions:



• Operations – inventory turns, out-of-stock rate, service levels, product rejects, warranty costs, customer satisfaction, and raw material costs

• Finance/Accounting – COGS, gross margin, SG&A and operating expenses, operating margin, DSO, cash flow

• HR – absenteeism and turnover

• Project Management – time, cost, and quality

• Web Design – pages/visit, average time on site, clickthrough rate, and cost per thousand impressions



• Marketing – brand penetration, cannibalization, customer retention, and market share

• Sales – pipeline, closing ratios, new business, and quotas

• Customer Service – customer complaints, consumer satisfaction index, average call time, and dropped calls

• Collections – overdue accounts and collection costs



3. Quantify Your Results: Determine the percentages and/or amounts (which include dollar figures) for the metrics you selected. For example, the initiative increased revenue from $100M to $150M or by 50% ($150/$100M – 1).



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The power of the police uniform: An instinct to obey authority

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I am still processing the horrific events that happened as part of the horrific terrorist attacks in Norway last Friday. Reading over the news reports, I can only try to fathom the terror felt by the youth on the island of Utoya as they ran, pleaded, and swam for their lives. How did this happen? How did the shooter manage to talk his way onto an island that is accessible only by boat? Fairly easily it seems, since he was dressed up like a policeman.

"We greeted him as we got off the ferry," said a student who was leaving Utøya just as Anders Behring Breivik, dressed as a police officer, was boarding the boat for the island. "We thought it was great how quickly the police had come to reassure us of our safety because we had heard of the bombing in Oslo."

The youth on the island gathered easily around the man in a police uniform wearing two guns. After all, people in police uniforms are seen as more competent, reliable, intelligent, helpful, honest, valuable, and possessing better judgment (Mauro, 1984; Singer & Singer, 1985). And Breivik is not alone in his manipulation of the police uniform. There are reports all over the web of fake policemen, many of whom receive instinctive obedience, including this particularly disturbing report of a boss who sexually harassed an employee at the behest of a phone call from “Officer Scott.”  Evidence from psychological research, such as Milgram’s study, shows that we have an instinct to obey authority, especially when we have little time to think through our choices, and it appears that the police uniform is a particularly potent symbol of authority.
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Friday fun: Food and mood

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We all know that coffee is energizing, oysters are an aphrodisiac (maybe), and turkey makes us sleepy, especially when combined with gravy and stuffing. But there are many other important - and less obvious - links between food and mood. Here are a few of them:

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Flexing the Muscle that is Self-Control

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College was a busy time for me and by extension a trying period for my roommate Vanessa. Unlike the average 19 year old, Vanessa had assumed such adult-like habits as washing dishes directly after eating a meal, making regular trips to take out the trash, and refusing to live with scum and filth in general (God forbid). These healthy habits were by no means my own. I was just learning how to balance the demands of my two priorities: a heavy workload at NYU and a debaucherous social life. When I came home from a long day at the library I was overwhelmed and exhausted. The last thing I had time or energy for was cleaning up after myself. Instead I wanted to simply unwind and relax in preparation for a night out in New York. I drove poor Vanessa mad!

You might assume from this introduction, that Vanessa and I have long since parted ways; that my dirty habits so turned her off from a friendship with me, that when our first year together was over, she quickly moved on to greener and cleaner pastures. Surprisingly, that’s not the case at all. Vanessa and I continued to live together for the better part of college, and to this day remain extremely close friends. While much of that is due to our particular “chemistry,” some of it should be attributed to the evolution of my cleaning habits. As college wore on Vanessa taught me how to be a good roommate, and with repeated practice I became much more able to follow a day studying with a night cleaning. How was I able to build these roommate duties into a routine that was just as work heavy and party heavy as before? The answer is quite nicely explained by Roy Baumeister’s “strength model of self-control.” For a great summary check out Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007. Let me outline the basic components of this theory…Read More->

Going Social!

The Best New Tool for Online Job Search If Managed the Right Way!

Remember the old job hunting days when you had to actually call and visit the company offices yourself to fill out an application or drop your CV? Not to say that these days are long gone, but the attention nowadays is shifting towards Social Media – the new player in today’s job market. While finding a job through social media won't replace traditional methods anytime soon, but it certainly has its perks. More and more employers these days are making the most of their social media presence to drive brand awareness and attract job seekers to their businesses. With that in mind, social media networks can be your best friend and your worst enemy. If you don’t manage your social profiles in a smart way, it can actually hinder your efforts in landing a job and even cost you your current job. Akhtaboot is here to the rescue with career-saving tricks to help you effectively manage your online presence.

Take Control of your Online Image

Whether you are currently employed or seeking a job, having a digital presence on the web is a valuable chance to create your personal brand and affect how people who don’t know you think of you. Let’s face it; no matter how professional you really are on the job, you can actually lose a whole lot of respect by how you handle yourself online. When it comes to your social profiles use neutral pictures that do not show detail into your personal life. Be careful what you write about yourself in your status updates, tweets and blog posts. Publishing inappropriate content about yourself or your employer may be detrimental when seen by a potential or current employer.

Be Proactive

Social Media has made it acceptable to connect with companies and professionals you don’t actually know. Conduct periodic searches to identify the top companies you’d like to work for. Follow recruiters on your account and address them directly for a few times before you actually inquire about any potential vacancies. Doing so will help you learn a lot about them and their companies, but make sure that you don’t spam them with too many inquiries. Twitter has become the leading platform to directly connect with companies to communicate with them on specific topics and to find jobs. Follow online recruitment portals on Twitter such as @Akhtaboot and stay up to date with the latest job openings and career-related articles and news.

Produce Content to Attract Industry Attention

An excellent way to use your online presence to your advantage is to post things that will make your network of professionals think highly of you and help you position yourself as the go-to expert in your business landscape. Use your network to share news and information about industry-related topics with great commentaries. Try to be the first to publish relevant news and articles and don’t ignore the importance of speed when it comes to replying to comments and questions. Recognizing the importance of social engagement to the recruitment process, Akhtaboot developed its Facebook application (http://apps.facebook.com/akhtaboot) to include a social recommendations feature to boost your Akhtaboot profile in front of employers. By linking your Akhtaboot account to your Facebook profile, you will now be able to give and receive personal recommendations about your top personal traits within a career context, in addition to searching for and applying to jobs directly from within Facebook.

Integrate your Online and Offline Efforts

No matter how social media savvy you are, there’s still a very strong chance that you will need to complement your online job hunt with some offline measures. Every time you apply for a job, there's a big chance that someone with the power to affect a hiring decision will be seeking you out online. Bearing that in mind, perhaps it's worth taking the time to sort out and tailor exactly what those people can discover about you. A smart way to do so is to add links to your blog, LinkedIn profile and Twitter ID on your CV. Before a job interview, learn about a potential employer by following the company Twitter stream. Google your name before you go in. If anything shady comes up, be ready to address it in the interview.

All job seekers want to stand out from the crowd that is filled with many good candidates who are eyeing similar positions. This is where social media can tip the scales to your advantage. In many industries, a lot of employers are making the most of social media to fill their positions and find potential candidates that have the necessary requirements. With that in mind, what may be okay to share with friends is possibly not employer-friendly in the professional atmosphere. Whenever you share or tweet anything, keep in the back of your mind: "Who is going to see this?"

Our Little Stories: Telling More Than We Know

Autobiography at its finest (source)

Last week I wrote a blog post about one of the most famous psychological experiments EVER: The Milgram Obedience Experiment. That got me thinking, wouldn't it be neat to write posts about some of my favorite classic experiments. Which brings us all here.

Let's try something for a second: Why don't you think back on the story of your life. While you are thinking back, try to remember why you got to the job you did, the city you now live in, the neighborhood, the relationships, etc... Most likely you--and most people for that matter-- took a long winding road to where you are now. It's also likely that you can pinpoint a few critical decisions you made in the past that have really shaped who you are today, and what you did to get here. We often construct these life narratives and you can buy any number of them in bookstores near you (hint: they are in the "autobiography" section).

But how true are these narratives really? Do we really know the two or three critical points in our lives that changed everything and made us the people we are today? Psychological science says no, and here is why:

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Friday Fun: In which Hogwarts House do you belong?

The Sorting Hat on Harry Potter

The Sorting Hat perfectly divines people's personalities, something us mere muggle psychologists can only dream about doing. Yet we continue to try. So in honor of the final Harry Potter movie premiere tonight, I scoured the internet to find some psychology-based quizzes that will tell you, with science-backed certainty, in which Hogwarts House you belong.

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New Grads' Biggest Blunders in Job Interviews

Common job interview pitfalls for recent grads

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What do more than 50 seasoned college recruiters from top-level corporations and universities say are the biggest mistakes college grads make in job interviews? That’s the question I recently posed to recruiters from companies and schools like Google, Disney, Sony, and Stanford University. The outcome? Their five 'biggest blunders' - which are outlined below. Are YOU committing any of these mistakes in your job search?



1. Not paying attention to YOU on the Internet. Chances are your interviewer or future boss will do a "Google search" on you before they decide to call you in for an interview. In fact, I found out about 45% of recruiters now go beyond Google and search for you on social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. So, think twice about what you post online, even if you think it’s protected by a password.



What does this mean for you and your online personal brand? Think twice before posting those wild photos from last year’s spring break on your Facebook page or a picture of you passed out on your friend’s living room couch on your blog. Veda Jeffries from Stanford University, says, “Students feel that Facebook, etc. is their personal thing, but it’s difficult to erase negatives about who you are when it is open to anyone and everyone.” Pay attention to what you say in your blog or other social media, too. Negative comments about professors, internship colleagues, or dorm mates - or using bad language - may find you out of a job. Remember: Privacy is virtually non-existent on the Internet. As soon as you post it, your secret is out, and you may be unconsciously hurting your personal brand faster than you can click your mouse.



2. Believing a company’s “greeter” at a career fair is a peer or a confidante. Recruiters made it clear: The job of a company’s greeter at a career fair is to check you out just as much as an interviewer. Even if a greeter seems casual and talks to you like you were a friend, his or her job is to report back to the company whether to call you in for an interview or not. So, keep in mind that the greeter’s opinion counts! Also, make sure that you don’t say one thing to the greeter and something different to your interviewer. You’ll get caught, and that could lead you to being branded as inconsistent — or worse, dishonest. Keep it professional when interacting with every company rep.



3. Thinking the interview only begins when you’re across the desk from the interviewer. HR professionals repeatedly told me: From the moment you walk into the location where you’ll be interviewed, you are “on.” That means no talking on your cell phone, listening to your MP3 player, or texting in the lobby while waiting for the interviewer. It means remembering that how you treat the receptionist may be shared with your potential boss later on.



And, it also means remembering that the time you spend following the interviewer from the reception area to the interview room is also part of your interview. I found out that some recruiters are purposely quiet during that time just to see how you respond to the silence and to see if you’re outgoing and personable enough to talk. So, be sure to start some conversation during that time; a little small talk will go a long way to communicating a strong personal brand.



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The after-hours mutants

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Every night owl you meet will tell you the same thing: there is something magical about those late night hours when the rest of the world is sleeping. It's your time, unscheduled and undisturbed, to spend as you wish. To some, this perspective may seem lazy and immature, a luxury afforded only to those who don't have real adult responsibilities. And this may be partially true - many would-be night owls have few opportunities to enjoy the later evening hours because of work, kids, and other demands. But new research suggests that even these non-practicing night owls may be hard-wired to want to stay up late. Though sleep preferences are due in part to non-biological factors like culture, and family environment, at least 50% of the variance seems to be driven by genes, specifically something called the "after-hours mutant" which appears to prolong the circadian rhythm. As a result, evening people may find the traditional work schedule a constant battle with the snooze button, regardless of how much sleep they get.
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You’re the Judge: Are You Making Bad Attributions?

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Your romantic partner surprises you with flowers. What are the first thoughts that cross your mind? Do you think “how sweet and thoughtful!” or do your thoughts tend toward the dark side, such as “That’s a look of guilt… what did he do this time?” How we interpret the behaviors of those closest to us says a lot about our relationships. If your friend is late for lunch, do you think she can’t manage her time well, or do you assume she got stuck in traffic? People who tend to interpret their partner’s behaviors in a more positive light have happier, more trusting relationships. So what exactly does it mean to interpret someone’s behavior in a “more positive light”?

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Friday Fun: A Look Back At The Milgram Experiment

In 1963, Stanley Milgram published perhaps the single most important piece of research in the history of social psychology. His Behavioral Study of Obedience experiment is among the most influential studies of all time, and is still being taught today in psychology classes everywhere. 

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The experiment was designed to take place in laboratory room where the goal was to study learning and memory as part of a Yale psychology experiment. There were 40 total participants between the ages of 20 and 50 from the surrounding New Haven community. All different types of occupational grades and education levels were represented among these participants, though they were all men. Once at the experiment, participants were instructed that they would be teaching another man--their partner-- some word associations. If the partner got any of the answers wrong, participants would deliver a slight shock. As the partner continued to get answers wrong, the shock could potentially increase to painful levels. The final shock intensity was 450 volts, and was labeled with an XXX.
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Reflection without Rumination

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After we go through a painful experience – a conflict with a friend, a break-up, a loss, we face a conundrum. On the one hand, reflection on the experience is essential. It allows us to gain insight, to understand the experience in new and important ways, to get over it. Yet, what once was healthy reflection can often turn into rumination – a toxic preoccupation with the experience that fosters negative emotion. In fact, rumination is believed to contribute to depressive episodes (e.g. Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). The question thus remains - how can we reflect on negative memories from the past, without ruminating about them?

My (awesome) advisor at UC Berkeley, Ozlem Ayduk, tackled this question with Ethan Kross, her collaborator at the University of Michigan. In their research Ayduk and Kross contrast thinking about painful memories of this nature, from either a first- or a third-person perspective. When we think about the event from a first-person perspective, we put ourselves right back in our own shoes, and relive the event as if it was happening to us all over again. Ayduk and Kross hypothesized that this “self-immersed” perspective increases negative emotion and the likelihood of ruminating. Alternatively, when we think about an event from a third-person perspective, we see everything unfold from afar; as if we are a fly on the wall or a distant observer of what’s happening. Ayduk and Kross hypothesized that this “self-distanced” perspective, allows an individual to gain insight or meaning without reliving the negative emotions they experienced when the event first occurred. Thinking about the meaning of the event rather than rehashing the details of what they experienced or felt at the time allows for reflection without rumination.
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Impact of High Unemployment on Young Americans

Job prospects analyzed

This post was written by Tom Pauken and was reprinted with permission from http://www.texasgopvote.com



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National unemployment in November rose to 9.8 percent. With national unemployment hovering in the 10 percent range, an increasing number of analysts, pundits and economists are asking whether these high rates of unemployment in the U.S. are here to stay. As grim as the overall national numbers are, the situation is even worse for young Americans.



Unemployment among teenagers is at 24.6 percent, nearly double what it was 10 years ago. For those 19 to 24-years-old, unemployment is 15.6 percent compared with 6.8 percent in 2000. Even college graduates are finding it hard to land jobs. Unemployment for those with bachelor’s degrees rose in November to a 30-year high of 5.1 percent.



Prospects are not getting brighter for recent college grads, many of whom are burdened with tens of thousands of dollars of debt upon finishing school. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, a new survey from the Collegiate Employment Research Institute shows that only 43 percent of employers who hired college graduates from the class of 2010 are certain they will do so again for this year’s graduates. Another Journal story noted that the percentage of business-school graduates receiving job offers is slightly improved from last year but still far below what it was just a few years ago. The director of career services for Pepperdine University's business school was quoted as saying that hiring is “dramatically down from 2007 and 2008 ... nowhere near where we were in the past.”



Graduates used to leave school and enter the workforce by taking entry-level positions that were ample, thanks primarily to a vibrant private sector. Those jobs placed them on a steady career path that gave them opportunities for advancement and professional development. But these entry-level positions have begun to disappear as private businesses have drastically scaled back their hiring of new employees. While small businesses create a majority of new jobs, they are hiring far less now than they have in the past. Privately held firms with fewer than 500 employees have added an average of 35,000 net jobs a month in 2010 compared to 143,000 in 2006 and 79,000 in 2007. Fewer jobs being created in the private sector means less in the way of employment opportunities for young Americans.



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The Power of Touch

Little touches mean so much (source)

Touch is arguably the most important sense we have. Some non-human primates spend upwards of 20% of the time grooming, a behavior primates rely upon for its social functions and ability to solve conflicts. In humans, touch may be even more important. Touch is the most highly developed sense at birth, and as you might guess, far preceded language as a means of communication in human evolution.

It's a wonder then, that such a small amount of research has been conducted on touch, whereas a relatively high proportion of research has gone to vision or nutrition studies as two examples (I mean, can you imagine a university with a touchology department?). I'm not saying we shouldn't study nutrition. Instead, I'm arguing that what we need is more researchers interested in the study of tactile communication. Why you ask? Because this area of research is ripe for new discoveries. Read on!

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Happy Fourth of July!

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Whether you're barbecuing outside or spending some time with family and friends, we at New Grad Life wish you a very happy Fourth Of July!

The Anatomy of "The Look"

The four of us (Amie, Anna, Juli, and Michael) are blessed to be surrounded by brilliant researchers, enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with the greater public. Therefore, today we would like to present you with the first of a series of guest bloggers who will be joining Psych Your Mind. Our first guest blogger is Jenny, a fellow graduate student at UC Berkeley. Take it away Jenny!

"The Look"
Clockwise from top left, Representative Anthony Weiner of New York, former Gov. James McGreevey of New Jersey, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York, former Representative Eric J. Massa of New York, President Bill Clinton and former Senator John Ensign of Nevada.

I’m sure most of you will recognize these pictures, and many of you may even remember the exact moments when they were taken. Certain words immediately come to mind: disgrace, fall, scandal, regret. These eerily similar expressions all occurred during the variety of infidelity scandals that have rocked the political scene. This picture, now being called “the look,” has been floating around the internet for the last few weeks.  It provides a great opportunity for social psychologists to rally around the importance of non-verbal expressions in communication and how power can affect our emotional experience. 

The expressions of these disgraced politicians may be a bit confusing. It’s clear they express negative feelings, but which exactly? Take a second and look at them, do you feel a sense of sympathy, perhaps anger, or even suspicion? Their expressions are complicated and they say a lot. In some ways they communicate exactly what they are meant to, “I’m sorry, I’m ashamed, I’m disappointed in myself.”  But some other feelings also may be coming through, “I’m mad I got caught and I resent having to be here.” Facial expressions although they can be controlled can often be an honest communicator of our feelings, even when we don’t want them to be. To understand these expressions, let’s start at the beginning and break it down piece by piece.

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