The impact of dynamic status changes within competitive rank-ordered hierarchies

Significance Although extant research acknowledges status contests within hierarchies, the precise psychological process and resulting performance of a focal actor competing and jockeying for higher rank remains unexplored. We examine how competitors’ positive status momentum (i.e., recent positive trajectory in the hierarchy) affects a focal actor’s performance over and above their current position in the hierarchy. Across 6 studies, we find that an opponent’s momentum negatively affects the focal actor’s cognitive and physical performance, due to the psychological threat induced by the competitor’s momentum. This research demonstrates how status momentum is a key driver that affects performance and disrupts rankings within competitive hierarchies beyond objective rank. It also offers an alternate account to the “hot hand” fallacy toward understanding success.