Status is an extremely important topic if you want to discuss human behavior. Usually the topic is in the domain of Anthropologists, because it is a large factor in terms of social behavior. Keep in mind though that status is a social behavior far older than humans or even hominids. In ways you could call it the primary reproductive behavior of mammals that because it is apart of the goal of aggressive competition of males and it is much of the goal of female reproductive competition.
You should understand that there is status and then there is appearance of status. An Olympic athlete has demonstrated physical and so presumably genetic fitness. That is real status in terms of biology and how it has been for millions of years. A person that inherits wealth or gains it basically by luck can buy the trappings of status. In the past, the trappings of status were better indicators of status than they are now. Still, our terminology does not distinguish between the two. For various reasons, material wealth is now more often considered status than is the original meaning which related to genetic fitness. Do not be confused by the two.
In terms of Biology Status determines who you have reproductive access to. The tribe's best rabbit hunter is not going to make time with the daughter of the chief of a tribe of deer hunters. In any group will be individuals more gifted than others. Status is how they assort themselves so that those most gifted spend time socially and reproductively with others in the group that are most gifted. We see it in modern society that the rich marry the rich. In this case though, the discussion is not about material wealth and gifts or even the social power status gives. This discussion is about genetic gifts and genetic wealth. The most obvious form of genetic wealth would be beauty, but that applies most to females and there are many other forms of genetic wealth, the most basic being health. We don't always think about it very consciously and genetic gifts get masked in society by other forms of wealth, but we are all instinctively experts at judging others genetic health and nature. We can even tell by smell the nature of other people's antibodies against disease and know if they will compliment our own.
Notice as you read this that you are having trouble being clear on the difference between genetic wealth, material wealth and social position. They are related, but not also quite different. Keep in mind that material wealth is not something that existed much at all at the time of the tribe and less the further back you look, but status did. Because of the complexity of human family and human life, a person can have significant material wealth while having significant weaknesses in health that would have been fatal even a few generations ago. At the same time, there tends to be a correlation between ability and material wealth. Genes are what status is about. Non-genetic based status is an important, complicated problem that is discussed in it's own topic, but this is about genetic wealth.
Status is not just something of the individual, it also belongs to the family, which makes sense because they are genetically related. Children gain status from their parents.
This all makes sense because good genes are paid for by natural selection and luck. That is a great wealth and status is its relative measure in a reproductive group. If an individual can reproduce with someone that has superior genes, that is genetic wealth, they have made a great gain in terms of reproductive success. For this reason, so much behavior is focused around success. It is why we dress as we do, own what we do, why we struggle for wealth and is what we compete for. It is how we reproductively compete.
The point of this essay is to say that this incredibly important factor in human survival and behavior is going to massively change. So many wars have been fought over limited resources such as water. What would the change be if a cheap, easy method of purifying sea water was developed? A huge reason for competition would be changed and the behaviors around protecting water sources would change. Artificial selection is going to do something similar. An individual "marrying" into a high status family gained a significant degree of improvement of their children's genes. An incredible amount of work and resources are put into maintaining one's status. Artificial selection is going to do that generation after generation at much lower "cost". Instead of wealth as status symbols, genetic wealth will be known directly and it will be husbanded far more effectively. Due to peculiar factors of genes, including their additive nature, hybridization issues, and other issues, the genetic gifts of an individual may be far more than the sum of the parents. Genetic wealth is not just vitality or the hybrid would have the advantage. Stability matters as well, which is why back-crossing is necessary to stabilize traits to make sure they are effectively inherited.
Our genetic programming around genetic status is so old and powerful that we are unlikely to easily even guess or comprehend what this is going to mean in the future. Still, children have been marrying for love and other silly reasons forever. That's good, because it shows plasticity of behavior.