This insightful book examines the differences in the perception of social status and how they impact youth mental health and well-being. Looking at social status from a developmental perspective, the author explores the expansion of opportunities for social comparison and complex social hierarchies driven by social media use.
Focusing on how social status is ever-present across species in the animal world, the book begins by exploring the biology of social status, the biological mechanisms by which it affects health, and how it presents in the spaces in which children and adolescents live e.g., schools, neighbourhoods, and cultures. Case studies of adolescents interviewed about social status are included, as well as a final chapter detailing specific steps to help minimise the effects of hierarchies on health and ways to approach social status differences.
Bridging anthropological, economic, developmental, and psychological literature on children and adolesce
