  We introduce a class of one-dimensional linear kinetic equations of Boltzmann
and Fokker--Planck type, describing the dynamics of individuals of a
multi-agent society questing for high status in the social hierarchy. At the
Boltzmann level, the microscopic variation of the status of agents around a
universal desired target, is built up introducing as main criterion for the
change of status a suitable value function in the spirit of the prospect theory
of Kahneman and Twersky. In the asymptotics of grazing interactions, the
solution density of the Boltzmann type kinetic equation is shown to converge
towards the solution of a Fokker--Planck type equation with variable
coefficients of diffusion and drift, characterized by the mathematical
properties of the value function. The steady states of the statistical
distribution of the social status predicted by the Fokker--Planck equations
belong to the class of Amoroso distributions with Pareto tails, which
correspond to the emergence of a \emph{social elite}. The details of the
microscopic kinetic interaction allow to clarify the meaning of the various
parameters characterizing the resulting equilibrium. Numerical results then
show that the steady state of the underlying kinetic equation is close to
Amoroso distribution even in an intermediate regime in which interactions are
not grazing.
