Older, but Wiser? “The Matthew Effect” at 50: Introduction to the Dialog

Abstract

Merton's famous essay on recognition and rewards in scientific careers, "The Matthew Effect in Science", has reached middle age. This Dialog reflects on established research that separates the origins and the consequences of status, and recent contributions regarding the constraints of status advantages. In doing so, this collection responds to a growing scholarly debate about the returns to high status. The authors engage with Merton's cumulative status advantage, and go further to identify downsides of increased recognition both for individuals and for the status system itself. The six articles in this Dialog evaluate the progress made towards Merton's proposed research agenda and highlight opportunities for its extension.

Systems of Evaluation and the Matthew Effect

“…These cursory comparisons cannot tell us anything conclusive about the Matthew Effect, but they do highlight some potentially fruitful directions of inquiry. First, these comparisons raise questions about how the characteristics of the system of judgment matter for the carrying out of the Matthew Effect (see also Otner, 2018a, b). One hypothesis is that the Matthew Effect is most likely to be activated and most likely to act powerfully when there is a single, dominant mode of judgment, like the Nobel Prize or the USN ranking of law schools.…”

The Matthew Effect as an Unjust Competitive Advantage: Implications for Competition Near Status Boundaries

“…Consider the status boundary separating the roles of “manager” and “executive,” or between PhD students and assistant professors, or between those in Merton’s “41st chair” and the celebrated scientists above it (cf. Otner, 2018a; Reschke, Azoulay, & Stuart, 2017). When such a status boundary comes into clear view, competition for the expected benefits of the Matthew Effect can grow vicious and distracting.…”

The Matthew Effect and the Lucan Lawyer: The Ecological Consequences of Status Shocks

“…Are external audiences venturing temporarily into Matthew-marked territory, or does this herald the demise of their former domains? Third, just as Sharkey (2018) and Otner (2018a, 2018b) consider the “crispness” of reward systems, we ask, how does the exclusivity of reward systems affect the breadth of attention reallocation? Particularly, how are these forces affected by the frequency and focus of status shocks?…”