The Status-Enhancing Power of Sociability

Alessandro Bucciol, Simona Cicognani and Luca Zarri

Working Paper series from Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis

Abstract: This paper shows that individuals' sociability plays an important role in explaining where individuals locate themselves in the social ladder, also when their objective location within society (measured through their income, wealth and education) is considered. Using data from the US Health and Retirement Study, we assess individuals' sociability through the number and quality of friendships and attitude towards others (support, social cohesion, reciprocity, cynical hostility, loneliness and discrimination). We find subjective social status to correlate positively with social contact, reciprocity and social cohesion. Individuals with higher life satisfaction seem disconnected from objective elements when subjectively evaluating their social status.

Keywords: Subjective social status; Objectively measured social status; Sociability; Personality traits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap and nep-soc
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rim:rimwps:17-15

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