Socioeconomic Status and Success: What’s the Link?

Why do some successful people continue to thrive while others stumble after reaching the top? How does your position on the social ladder affect your chances of achieving and maintaining success?

In The Winner Effect, Ian Robertson explores the relationship between socioeconomic status and success. He reveals that high social status not only results from previous achievements but also serves as a powerful catalyst for future accomplishments, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.

Read more to see how this status-success connection affects you—and learn the hidden dangers of preferential treatment that can derail even the most promising trajectories.

Socioeconomic Status and Success

Robertson contends that your social status—how you’re perceived and treated by others within your social and professional circles—influences your ability to achieve, maintain, and build upon success. He argues that high social status is both an outcome of prior success and a catalyst for future success. With each success, your status increases, opening doors to new opportunities. This dynamic between socioeconomic status and success creates a self-reinforcing cycle that can propel you toward further accomplishments.

He argues that a high social status fosters ongoing success by eliciting positive feedback from others: People expect you to succeed based on your previous achievements and reputation. This expectation leads them to behave in ways that facilitate your ongoing success—they listen to your ideas, assuming they must be valuable. They’re also more inclined to ignore your mistakes, assuming that someone of your status doesn’t make errors. As a result, you have more latitude to exert your influence and shape your environment in ways that support your success.

For example, grant committees might view a renowned scientist’s research proposals more favorably. As a result, the scientist is able to secure funding that enables her to continue producing groundbreaking work. 

(Shortform note: The Pygmalion effect offers additional insights on how high expectations perpetuate success. The more people expect you to succeed, the more you internalize their high expectations, seeing yourself as someone capable of meeting increasingly elevated standards. This internalization process upgrades your beliefs about your capabilities. As a result, your behavior naturally shifts to match this new self-perception, making it increasingly easier to take advantage of the opportunities afforded you, consistently perform at a higher level, and further reinforce your high status.)

High Social Status Breeds Overconfidence

However, Robertson warns that preferential treatment can lead you astray, distorting your behavior in ways that undermine your success. He explains that being surrounded by people who primarily affirm your decisions can cause you to become overconfident. You might start to believe that your elevated status means you always know best, disregarding valuable input and failing to consider the perspectives and needs of others. Additionally, the qualities that helped you succeed might diminish as you gain more power and status. This occurs because high status can insulate you from the everyday challenges and interactions that initially honed your skills.

For example, a CEO who rose through the ranks due to their team-building skills loses touch with the day-to-day operations and the needs of their employees as they spend more time at the top. As a result, they become increasingly autocratic, undermining the collaborative culture that led to their initial success.