Status difference is prevalent within working groups, profoundly influencing employees' perceptions and behaviours towards coworkers and their groups. Despite this ubiquity, exploring the effects of status difference within groups remains relatively underexamined. Drawing on social identity theory, this study examined how and when horizontal status difference (i.e., status comparison between a focal employee and his/her peers) and vertical status difference (i.e., status comparison between a focal employee and his/her leader) influence employees' perceived insider status and proactive behaviour. Results from 421 employees across 113 working groups indicated that horizontal status difference was positively related to perceived insider status, but vertical status difference had a curvilinear effect on perceived insider status. Furthermore, perceived insider status significantly mediated the impact of horizontal and vertical status differences on proactive behaviour. We also demonstrated that promotion criteria significantly moderated the relationship between horizontal status difference and perceived insider status; in particular, this relationship was stronger when organizations used a relative rather than an absolute promotion criterion.

中文翻译：

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工作场所地位差异和主动行为：感知内部地位和晋升标准的作用

地位差异在工作群体中普遍存在，深刻影响着员工对同事及其群体的看法和行为。尽管这种现象普遍存在，但对群体内地位差异的影响的探索仍然相对不足。本研究借鉴社会认同理论，探讨了横向地位差异（即焦点员工与其同事之间的地位比较）和纵向地位差异（即焦点员工与其领导者之间的地位比较）如何以及何时产生影响。员工感知的内部地位和主动行为。来自 113 个工作组的 421 名员工的结果表明，横向地位差异与感知的内部人地位呈正相关，但纵向地位差异对感知的内部人地位具有曲线效应。此外，感知的内部人地位显着调节了横向和纵向地位差异对主动行为的影响。我们还证明，晋升标准显着调节了横向地位差异与感知的内部人地位之间的关系；特别是，当组织使用相对而非绝对的晋升标准时，这种关系会更加牢固。