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Scott V. Savage

Scott Savage

Associate Professor 

Phone: 713.743.0267
Email: svsavage@uh.edu
Office: 491 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
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Education

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Arizona
M.A., Sociology, University of Arizona
B.A., Political Science and Sociology, Wake Forest University

Biography

Scott Savage is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Houston. His research sits at the intersection of social psychology and organizational theory. As a social psychologist, he studies how identity, exchange, status and racial homophily processes induce inequality, bind individuals together, and generate social influence. As an organizational theorist, he recognizes these processes regularly occur in organizational settings and explores how they perpetuate social inequality in organizations. His research interests follow from these two emphases, with the goal of uncovering the micro-level processes that propagate inefficiencies and inequalities in groups and organizations.

Professor Savage’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and can be found in various scholarly outlets, including American Journal of Sociology, Social Problems, Social Forces, Social Psychology Quarterly, Social Science Research, The Sociological Quarterly and Sociological Perspectives.

Professor Savage also runs the Small Groups Laboratory (SGL) on campus. If you would like to learn more about the activities in the lab, feel free to email him. 

Research Interests

  • Social Psychology
  • Small Group Behavior
  • Sociology of Work/Professions
  • Sociology of Organizations
  • Social Inequality
  • Organizational Inequality

Teaching

  • Introduction to Sociological Research
  • Formal and Complex Organizations
  • Organizational Inequality
  • Research Methods
  • Small Group Behavior
  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology of Work

Selected Publications

  • Savage, Scott V., Ryan Seebruck, and Sloan Rucker. 2024. “The Downstream Consequences of Race-Related Managerial Job Insecurity: Insights from College Basketball Coaching" Social Currents https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965241237261
  • Whitham, Monica M. and Scott V. Savage. 2024. “Refusal and Acceptance in Reciprocal Social Exchange.”  Social Psychology Quarterly https://doi.org/10.1177/01902725231218675 
  • Savage, Scott V. and Kathryn Freeman Anderson. 2023. “Racial Differences in the Occupational and Geographic Mobility of NCAA Division I Basketball Assistant Coaches.” Race & Social Problems https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-023-09404-8
  • Savage, Scott V. and David Melamed. 2022. “How Social Influence Processes Generate Cohesion in Task Groups.” Social Psychology Quarterly 85:44–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/01902725211039832
  • Savage, Scott V. 2022. “Status and Power in Exchange.” In Unequals: The Power of Status and Expectations in our Social Lives, edited by M. Webster, Jr. and L.S. Walker. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197600009.003.0008
  • Burke, Peter J., Jan E. Stets, and Scott V. Savage. 2021. “Punishment and the Dominance Identity in Exchange Networks.” Social Science Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2020.102489
  • Savage, Scott V., Joseph Dippong, and David Melamed. 2020. “Status and Competitive Choice.” Social Science Research 88-89:102–430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2020.102430
  • Seebruck, Ryan and Scott V. Savage. 2020. “To Promote or Hire? How Racial Processes and Organizational Characteristics Affect Internal Promotions in NCAA DI College Basketball Coaching.” Social Problems 67:546–564. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spz030
  • Savage, Scott V., Peter J. Burke, Jan E. Stets, and Phoenicia Fares. 2019. “The Fairness Identity and the Emergence of Inequality.” Social Science Research 81:144–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.03.010
  • Savage, Scott V. and Monica M. Whitham. 2018. “The Social Exchange Perspective.” Pp. 29-53 in Contemporary Social Psychological Theories, 2nd Edition, edited by Peter J. Burke. Stanford: Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503605626
  • Stets, Jan E., Peter J. Burke, Scott V. Savage. 2018. “Exchange, Identity Verification, and the Development of Social Bonds.” Social Psychology Quarterly 81(3):207–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272518785866
  • Savage, Scott V., Jan E. Stets, Peter J. Burke, and Zachary L. Sommer. 2017. “Identity and Exchange: The Fairness Identity and Power Use in an Exchange Network.” Sociological Perspectives 60(3):510–528. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121416644788
  • Melamed, David and Scott V. Savage. 2016. “Status, Faction Sizes, and Social Influence: Testing the Theoretical Mechanism.” American Journal of Sociology 122(1):201–232. https://doi.org/10.1086/686943
  • Savage, Scott V. and Zachary L. Sommer. 2016. “Should I Stay or Should I Go? How the Form of Exchange Affects Whether Disadvantaged Actors Remain in Networks.” Social Psychology Quarterly 79(2):115–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272516641392
  • Savage, Scott V. and Ryan Seebruck. 2016. “Race, Supervisorial Change, and Job Outcomes: The Case of NCAA Division I College Basketball.” The Sociological Quarterly 57(3):415–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/tsq.12141
  • Savage, Scott V., David Melamed, and Aaron Vincent. 2013. “Uncertainty and Social Influence: Effects of Status and Numbers.” Advances in Group Processes 30:109-129. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0882-6145(2013)0000030008
  • Melamed, David and Scott V. Savage. 2013. “Status, Numbers, and Influence.” Social Forces 91(3):1085–1104. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sos194

Affiliations