A Flag to Wave: How Identity Concerns Drive Status-Seeking Behavior

Abstract

I experimentally study determinants of status-seeking behavior in inter-group status contests. In contrast to the previous literature that has focused on social status attached to individuals, I test whether the widely observed inclination to seek social status is affected by identity concerns or the decision-making process within groups when status is assigned to an identity. Results from a laboratory study reveal that participants make significant investments in inter-group status contests, through both effort and costly sabotage. Treatment analyses further show that enhanced identity concerns represent a strong driver for the intensity of status-seeking behavior. This effect originates from a pronounced belief-based mechanism where perceptions of a status threat imposed by competing out-groups are amplified and motivated beliefs justify retaliatory sabotage if the in-group loses status across rounds. Lastly, the increased intensity of status-seeking behavior cannot be explained by changes in the perceived pivotality within group decision-making processes.

Keywords: status-seeking behavior, social identity, effort, sabotage, ranking, feedback, inter-group competition, contests