AUTHOR=Albrecht Konstanze , von Essen Emma , Fliessbach Klaus , Falk Armin TITLE=The influence of status on satisfaction with relative rewards JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=4 YEAR=2013 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00804 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00804 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

This study investigates how induced relative status affects satisfaction with different relative payoffs. We find that participants with lower status are more satisfied with disadvantageous payoff inequalities than equal or higher status participants. In contrast, when receiving an advantageous payoff, status does not affect satisfaction. Our findings suggest that relative social status has important implications for the acceptance of income inequalities.