32 Examples of a Social Hierarchy

John Spacey, March 07, 2023

A social hierarchy is a formal or informal ranking of social position or status. Formal hierarchies include things like the organizational charts of companies that grant the authority to command departments and teams. Informal hierarchies include valued elements of status such as wealth, fame and group memberships. The following are examples of social hierarchies.

A-list celebrities	Academic hierarchies
Aristocracy	Bureaucratic elite
Bureaucratic hierarchies	Caste system
Citizenship & immigration status	Corporate hierarchies
Creative class	Dictators
Educational attainment	Elite athletes
Elite status based on fame or popularity	Employee vs freelancer status
Entrepreneurial class	High or low status professions
Indentured servitude	Intelligentsia
Middle class	Nobility
Peasant class	Political hierarchies
Religious hierarchies	Royalty
Ruling class	School cliques
Scoring systems such as credit scores	Serfdom
Technocratic elite	Upper class
Wealth and income level	Working class

Positions in a social hierarchy can be a form of achieved status based on an individual's results in life. Alternatively, positions in a hierarchy can be a form of ascribed status whereby an individual has no control over this position.