PhD Defence: Maartje Eva Schouten
In her dissertation ‘The Ups and Downs of Hierarchy: The causes and consequences of hierarchy struggles and positional loss’, ERIM’s Maartje Eva Schouten focuses on the dynamics of social hierarchies examining both the ups and the downs of hierarchy.
Maartje Eva Schouten defended her dissertation in the Senate Hall at Erasmus University Rotterdam on Thursday, 2 June 2016 at 15:30. Her supervisor was Prof.dr. D.L. van Knippenberg and her co-supervisor was Prof.dr. L. Greer. Other members of the Doctoral Committee were Prof.dr. J. Hollenbeck (MSU), Prof.dr. D. van Dierendonck (RSM), and Dr. D.A. Stam (RSM).
About Maartje Eva Schouten
Maartje Schouten obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Natural and Social Sciences and Research Master’s degree in Psychology (both cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam. In 2010, Maartje started her PhD project at the Erasmus Research Institute of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is currently a visiting professor with the Management department of Michigan State University.
In her dissertation, she brings together topics from organizational behavior and social psychology to investigate the antecedents, contingencies, and outcomes of dynamics in social hierarchies within teams. Specifically, she focuses on how and why people are driven to obtain greater influence and how losing their position affects their affect, motivation, and behavior.
Maartje presented her research at several international conferences including Academy of Management, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and INGroup. Her work has been published in the Academy of Management Review and is currently under review at various management and psychology journals.
Thesis Abstract
A long-standing assumption among scholars is that social hierarchies, the rank ordering of team members on a valued social dimension, are stable over time. However, hierarchies change and the more changeable they are, the more likely they are to lead to conflicts and have other negative consequences. In this dissertation, I focus on the dynamics of social hierarchies examining both the ups and the downs of hierarchy.
To examine why team members climb the hierarchy, I conducted qualitative research to understand what drives people to engage in hierarchy struggles, or competitions for more influence within their teams. My research suggest that three hierarchy struggle types exist: power, status, and leadership struggles. Power struggles are about increasing control over valued resources, while status struggles are about increasing one’s respect and admiration in the eyes of others. Leadership struggles are about increasing one’s influence to better advance collective goals. I then develop scales to measure these constructs. Following-up on this, I leverage these studies to build a conceptual model focused on how, why, and when team members engage in hierarchy struggles and how other team members likely respond to these.
To examine the downs of hierarchy, I focus on the differential nature of losing power versus losing status. I argue and demonstrate that losing status is more painful than losing power. Together, the studies presented in this dissertation offer an in-depth exploration of the changeable nature of hierarchy and suggest that the dynamic nature of social hierarchies significantly impacts within-team dynamics.
· View and download Maartje's dissertation
Photos: Chris Gorzeman / Capital Images
