In this wide sense, rank is partly a matter of an individual's place in a scale of prestige, and partly of an individual's place in a hierarchy of power. In practice the two scales largely coincide. Discrepancies certainly occur. A man may exercise power yet be despised for the ways he acquired it, while another may be admired for moral qualities yet exercise little power. The two scales tend to coalesce in time; power earns increasing respect, and respect brings increasing influence.
A scale of prestige is a matter of what people think of each other, and varies with the person who is doing the thinking. We must also distinguish admiration for personal qualities from deference given to social position. Personal dislike or pretension may prevent people from explicitly admitting, or even recognising, deference which they nevertheless display implicitly in their behaviour.
In spite of these difficulties it is possible to establish a rough overall hierarchy among the village men. In the guest rooms, in the mosques, at wedding feasts, people arrange themselves