ABSTRACT
The last two chapters have looked at the sources of status. Now we consider how status is different from other kinds of resources and how these distinctive characteristics shape peoples’ behavior.
INALIENABILITY
If a robber says, “Your money or your life,” most people hand over their cash. But if a robber says, “Your status or your life,” people are likely to become very apprehensive-he must be insane. They could not give him their status if they wanted to. In this sense, status is inalienable. In high schools, the handsome football player or the beautiful cheerleader cannot give someone else their status —much less sell it to them. Stated in other terms, changing or exchanging status is difficult, and therefore converting other resources directly into status is problematic. One can, of course, gain or lose status by acquiring a status-relevant social position, but the status acquired is compromised if it is gained by illegitimate means. The nobleman who gains the crown by murdering the existing king and his heirs, the bourgeoisie who buys a title of nobility, or the candidate who wins by bribing election officials are looked upon with suspicion and disdain. Or conversely, the opposition leader or social critic who is imprisoned for obvious political reasons may officially be a criminal, but in the eyes of many becomes a hero. The point is not that economic and political resources are never used to manipulate status, but that the very nature of status makes this problematic.
