We explain what social status is, how it is obtained and what social mobility is. In addition, we tell you what the status quo.
What is status?
In a very general sense, Someone's status refers to the position that person occupies within a community whether the entire society or a specific group. Thus, a person with status is a person well seen, admired or esteemed by the group, while a person without status is the opposite.
This term is equivalent to the Latin word statusfrom which it comes, which can be translated as “state” or “condition.” That's why, It is also used to refer to the condition of people within a system of values as occurs when we refer to “social status” (the place that someone occupies within society), “immigration status” (the condition that someone has under the laws of a country) or “civil status” (the legal status that someone has before the state: married, single, among others).
The terms state, condition, situation, appreciation or valuation are synonymous with status.
Social status
Social status is the relative position a person occupies within their community. This may refer to socioeconomic class, artistic prestige, fame, political hierarchy or any other condition that is valued and respected by the group in question.
So when we say that someone has a social status, we mean that they are very well connected and that they are appreciated, respected and/or admired within society which generally translates into a good socioeconomic position. Therefore, when we talk about “status people” or “people with status”, we usually refer most of the time to high society.
Social status can be had in two different ways:
- Assigned social status. It is one that is received from one's ancestors, that is, one that is received as an inheritance, without one doing anything else to deserve it other than being born in a certain context. This status is determined by conditions prior to the existence of the individual and in which they have no choice, such as their race, their social class or their family history.
- Acquired social status. It is one that is earned through one's own merits, such as economic and professional success, intellectual or artistic recognition, or in certain conditions, heroism. The acquired status is granted by society as a whole, its institutions or by those who, paradoxically, already have a certain status of any kind. In this sense, status depends on the cultural and historical rules that determine society at that time.
In either case, social status can be objective or subjective, depending on whether it comes from formal recognition by others (objective status), or if it is an impression that a person has about themselves (subjective status). The latter can, in turn, be correct or false, depending on how closely it matches the objective status.
However, social status can change as people can change their position within the hierarchical strata of society: a phenomenon known as social mobility. Social mobility can be of two types:
- Upward social mobility. When the person “gains status”, that is, ascends the pyramid of the social hierarchy, and positively changes social class. In today's society, this usually implies increases in the money earned, successful ventures or great professional successes.
- Downward social mobility. When the person “loses status”, that is, descends in the pyramid of the social hierarchy, and negatively changes social class. In today's society, this usually involves drastic losses in one's capital or private property, or economic catastrophes, that is, impoverishment.
Status quo
The expression status quosometimes erroneously written as “status quo” or “status quo,” comes from the Latin saying in status quo antetranslatable as “in the state in which”, and refers, in general, to the determined order of things at a precise moment, that is, to the how things work within society or a system, at a specific moment.
For example, the status quo of a company can refer to its organization and hierarchy, while the status quo of a country usually refers to the government or political system as a whole. Those who oppose status quo They are classified as revolutionaries and their aspiration is to overthrow the current order to impose a new one.
Status quo It is also used within a much larger expression, common in the field of international politics and the drafting of treaties between nations: “status quo ante bellumthat is, “the state of things before the war.”
In this case it should be understood that after wars, many borders and international provisions tend to change, be erased or lost in the conflict, as armies exchange their control over territories; but When the fighting ends, the parties can agree to return everything to how it was before the war which is known as a case of status quo ante bellum.
References
- “Social status” on Wikipedia.
- “Status quo” on Wikipedia.
- “Status” in Wiktionary.
- “Information about Status” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
- “Status” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
