9700766 Markovsky This Doctoral Dissertation Research project will experimentally test a new theory of power that connects research from two sociological traditions: power and status. This research (i) tests a new theoretical argument that connects Network Exchange Theory (Markovsky et al. 1988, 1993) with the theory of Status Characteristics and Expectation States (Berger et al. 1977; Wagner and Berger 1993) and the theory of Status Value (Berger et al. 1972); (ii) establishes the baseline effect of status information on exchange outcomes for networks having no advantageous position; and (iii) determines if status information is sufficient to negate weak structural advantages that occur in one class of structures. This theory explains how individual traits or status characteristics lead to the development of power in social exchange networks. The argument is that the possessions of high status actors acquire a degree of status value that is independent of any economic or consumatory potential they may otherwise carry. For example, baseballs are valuable but Cal Ripken's baseball confers a unique sense of status value that ultimately stems from his prestige as a player. Thus, this theory predicts that high status creates a sense of status value that attaches to goods controlled by high status actors. exchanges. All experiments are conducted at the Center for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Iowa. Subjects interact via networked PCs, each negotiating to receive a share of the profit pool in each of their network relations. All subjects are first or second year college students and only same-gender subjects were included in a given session. Subjects are assigned randomly to their network positions where they remain for the entire session. First, subjects provide information on their age, gender, education, and high school grade point average. The experimenter then reports predetermined information about each subject's partners. Subjects connected to a "higher status" par tner believe they are working with a 27 year old engineering graduate student with a superior GPA. Those connected to a "lower status" person believes that their partner is a 16 year old high school student with an inferior GPA. Several status undifferentiated tests in which each subject believed they are connected to an equal status partner comparable to the real subject in terms of age, GPA, year in school and academic major are ran. Each subject is then assigned a commodity-colored poker chips-to control in the negotiation phase. Subjects are told they will negotiate with their partners for poker chips, and each will receive chips different from their own in color to help the experimenter keep track of the interactions. Following the status manipulation and chip allocation, subjects begin the negotiation and exchange phase. In each experiment, subjects complete 60 rounds of negotiation, making a maximum of one exchange per round. All are encouraged to gain as many chips as they can for themselves and told that their pay will be determined by the number of poker chips they earned. Data collected will be used to test several statistical models using regression analysis. ****
