An anthropological understanding of ethnicity and race requires exploring how people and institutions define, negotiate, and even challenge their identities in society. One way anthropologists do this is by studying status, which refers to

Status refers to the position that a person occupies in society, relative to other members of the same society.

Status can be defined in terms of monetary terms, political terms, or other social terms.

For example, wealthy people tend to have high status in society because they can use their resources to buy many goods and services, to obtain allies, and to wield political power. However, in other societies, poor monks with high spiritual knowledge have higher status because they are valued for their wisdom and discipline.