I'm starting to think that an intelligent species with the social hierarchy that we have, can only go to a certain level of advancement. Then it becomes imposs

I'm starting to think that an intelligent species with the social hierarchy that we have, can only go to a certain level of advancement. Then it becomes impossible to move further, without changing the social schema. Possibly into a hive form, where everything is easier to manage. From an engineering point of view, it's the perfect choice: easy to manage, easy to enhance, divide labour and what not. From a social point of view, yikes. Is there a branch of sociology or something that study the effects of different social schemas?