Doctoral Dissertation Research: An Experimental Test of the Theory of Reward Expectations: Goal Objects, Performance Expectations, and Group Structure

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Reward expectations theory explains how individuals' socially relevant characteristics can determine their expectations for rewards in collective task groups. The theory also predicts a reverse process, whereby the distribution of rewards within a group can determine members' status positions in that group. Evidence for the process has come from tests that used money, or points exchangeable for money, as rewards. However, the reward expectation theory is general: It predicts that distributing nonexchangeable goal objects, such as honors or titles, should also lead to status hierarchies. This status-valued process is important in recent theories addressing the creation of status characteristics. This project will employ an adaptation of a standardized experimental procedure using non-exchangeable rewards to provide the first direct test of reverse process predictions. The proposed work will serve as a first step in developing a research program that addresses how various characteristics become status valued.