Social leaders are dominant-group people with occasional exceptions. Social-distance scales provide an assessment of the social status of a group. Respondents are asked whether they would admit members of minorities to a variety of situations. Conservative explanations are based on a view of society as a system with various needs that have to be met, so stratification and inequality are inevitable. Lenski and others such as Kerbo, differentiate the two positions on the basis of their assumptions.
Functional theorists stress the role of values and norms in holding society together.
Conflict theorists believe that society is held together by competing interests, and that the more powerful groups have the power to impose their values and norms upon less powerful groups. Functional theorists believe the society is a whole and liken it to a biological organism. Conflict theorists tend to focus more on the parts and processes in that system. Parsons viewed inequality as a consequence of value consensus in societies. Achievement and performance are judged on the basis of the needs, priorities, and goals of the system.