Daily fluctuations in social status, self‐esteem, and clinically relevant emotions: Testing hierometer theory and social rank theory at a within‐person level

INTRODUCTION: Grounded in hierometer theory and social rank theory, this research examined how within‐person fluctuations in social status relate to within‐person fluctuations in self‐esteem and several clinically relevant emotions. Both hierometer theory and social rank theory postulate that particular psychological mechanisms help individuals to navigate social hierarchies adaptively. However, hierometer theory emphasizes self‐esteem, whereas social rank theory emphasizes emotions—specifically, depression, anxiety, and shame. METHODS: We conducted a 10‐day diary study and analyzed the data using multilevel modeling. Participants (N = 345) completed daily measures of their social status, self‐esteem, depression, anxiety, shame, and guilt. RESULTS: On days when their status was higher, participants reported higher self‐esteem and lower depression, anxiety, and shame. On days when their self‐esteem was higher, participants reported lower depression, anxiety, and shame. These patterns persisted after controlling for baseline individual differences. Furthermore, multilevel mediation analyses indicated that daily self‐esteem mediated the links between daily status, and, individually, daily depression, anxiety, and shame, but not guilt. CONCLUSIONS: Supporting hierometer theory and social rank theory, self‐esteem, and the clinically relevant emotions (except for guilt) appear to serve a status‐tracking function. Self‐esteem plays a more primary role, accounting for the link between status and depression, anxiety, and shame.