Collaborative Research: Creating Status Characteristics and Breaking Them Down

题目：合作研究：创造身份特征并将其分解作者：默里·韦伯斯特，丽莎·拉肖特和艾莉森·比安奇机构：北卡罗来纳州夏洛特大学；该奖项支持一项新理论的实验测试，该理论描述了地位价值如何从地位特征传播到未评估的名义特征。研究的问题是，性格特征是如何承载尊重、社会价值和表现技能的内涵，而不是简单的描述性术语。理论上，在一定条件下，地位价值可以从现有的地位特征向新的名义特征扩散，使其从简单的描述符转变为社会价值和能力的标志。研究策略是设计并进行实验室实验，通过尝试在北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校一年级创建一个新的状态特征来测试该理论，并使用互补技术来分解爱荷华大学二年级的现有状态特征。该研究将完善理论模型，并为地位过程的大量实证研究做出贡献。这项工作的广泛影响将出现在学校和组织环境中，因为应用研究人员开发了使用类似于我们在实验室开发的技术来控制状态创建过程的方法。几十年来，地位概化理论被用于设计干预措施，以减少现有地位特征（如种族和性别）的有害影响；从这项工作中，我们将了解如何阻止新特征的产生，并消除它们的地位价值。这种方法应该非常有用，消除而不是部分克服地位影响，或者创造新的地位特征，而不是暂时赋予一些地位优势和劣势。即使没有干预，了解地位创造的过程也可以让观察者在评估其他个体时防范它。最后，这个合作项目将经验丰富的PI与年轻的PI联系起来，加强了两个机构的研究基础设施。

Title: Collaborative Research: Creating Status Characteristics and Breaking Them DownPIs: Murray Webster, Lisa Rashotte, and Alison BianchiInstitutions: University of North Carolina at Charlotte; University of IowaThis award supports experimental tests of a new theory describing how status value can spread from status characteristics to unevaluated, nominal characteristics. The research question is how characteristics come to carry connotations of esteem, social worth, and performance skills instead of being simply descriptive terms. Theoretically, under specified conditions, status value can spread from existing status characteristics to new nominal characteristics, changing them from simple descriptors to indications of social worth and ability. The research strategy is to design and conduct laboratory experiments to test the theory by attempting to create a new status characteristic in Year 1 at UNC Charlotte, and using complementary techniques to break down an existing status characteristic in Year 2 at Iowa. The research will improve the theoretical model and contribute to a large body of empirical research on status processes.Broader impacts of this work will appear in schools and organizational settings as applied researchers develop ways to control the status creation process using techniques similar to those we develop in the laboratory. For several decades, status generalization theories have been used to design interventions to reduce harmful effects of existing status characteristics such as ethnicity and gender; from this work we will understand ways to head off the creation of new characteristics, and to eliminate their status value. Such approaches should be very useful, eliminating status effects rather than partially overcoming them, or creating new status characteristics instead of temporarily conferring some status advantages and disadvantages. Even without interventions, understanding the process of status creation can allow observers to guard against it in their assessments of other individuals. Finally, this collaborative project links experienced PIs with a younger PI, strengthening the research infrastructure at both of the institutions.