Extending the Mark of a Criminal Record: An Experimental Test of Associative Status and Double Standards

• In Event: Social Psychological Theory

Abstract

Within the status characteristics and expectation states research program, a handful of scholars have suggested that status value can spread from actor-to-actor. Thye (1999) used the term "associative status" to describe this process, and results from Overton’s (2021) experimental test of this proposition provided initial support for the extension of expectation states theory to the concept of associative status. Overton’s (2021) findings, however, were limited to a very specific set of conditions – i.e., knowledge of the specific status of the predecessor of one’s own partner. Therefore, in the conclusion of his paper, Overton (2021) himself put forth a call for additional research into the various conditions under which status does and does not transfer between actors. In this study, I attempt to respond to this call, by examining (1) whether the status value associated with a diffuse status characteristic can also spread from actor-to-actor, (2) whether the type of relationship between actor and associate matter, and (3) whether associative status can trigger the use of double standards. I derive my predictions from both the status-and-double standards and associative status literatures, and I test these predictions using an experimental design modeled off the application folders designs used in previous doubles standards research (see, for example, Doerer, Webster, and Walker 2016; Correll, Bernard, and Paik 2007). I instantiate negative associative status using a familial relationship with a convicted felon. Consequently, results from the present study should contribute to both the status characteristics and expectation states literature and the broader literature on the spillover effects of mass incarceration.

Author

• Katie Constantin, Oklahoma State University