Will Barratt, Ph.D.
This blog entry is humor, and consequently should be
taken seriously.
Social class is inherently a hierarchy and some people
are social class competitive, seeking social class status as a competitive
sport. Vance Packard’s book The Status Seekers published in 1959 remains
required reading for anyone serious about social class and status. Not all people seek status or compete for
social status but status striving seems to be part of the modern human
condition. There many ways to compete
for social class status and in reality people combine methods. However, some people emphasize one particular
way of social class striving. This is
about those people.
Status is about ego.
Status is about peoples’ sense of self.
Achieving status is about establishing a place in a social hierarchy,
which is ego fulfilling. Seeking
external ego validation through status competition is a time honored
tradition. It also leads to difficulty
when ego validation is not forthcoming.
Status is interpersonal.
If you are alone in a room wearing high prestige products you have no
social status. Well, you do have social status
in your imagination, and not in real life.
Consequently status is about behaviors in interpersonal environments.
Some people compete for status in material ways,
purchasing positional goods. Some people
compete for social status through experience, purchasing travel and
experience. Some people compete for
social status through self improvement and the acquisition of knowledge and
skills. Some people compete for social
status through social connection.
Humor mode on;
Materialist
Identifying
features
Members of this group can be readily identified by
obviously labeled fashions. A higher
prestige subspecies can be identified by subtly labeled fashions or icon labeled
fashion. Varieties of fashion and
accessories will vary with region and ethnicity, but the display of fashion is
a constant for materialists. Popular visual media represents a homogenized
variation in status symbols and this can become normative.
While immature and mature plumage may vary, prestige
consumer good labels are a key identifier.
The presence of any Apple product is always a significant feature of the
accessories package associated with members of this group.
Hipster emphasis on anti-fashion and accessories readily
identifies them as materialists and they should not be confused with young or
immature intellectualists.
Habitat
Members of this group may be found in shopping areas that
have prestige branded stores. Ritual
display of status materials requires large numbers of social class striving competitors,
consequently shopping malls, restaurants, and gala events are the natural display
habitat for materialists.
Variants
A rare variant of the materialist has no labels and the
serious observer must be familiar with garment construction and style as well
as with fabric quality. While many
people have no obvious, subtle, or icon labeled fashions they may not be
materialists at all, so careful observation of fashion and accessory quality is
critical. Having no labels may mean the
a person has opted out of status striving using material goods. Consequently other forms of social class
status striving should be used for identification.
One statusologist has suggested that the diminishing size
of the label or logo is related to higher status as well as to ego security,
consequently the total lack of a product logo with the highest quality
construction and material is the highest status and reflective of a high level
of ego security.
Purchased status in material goods is differentiated from
earned status which is the basis for the socialist and the intellectualist.
Experientialists
Identifying
features
Members of this group are identified by two features, one
physical, and the other cognitive. Travel
experiences are the most common form found and the physical evidence of travel experiences
are souvenirs and symbols. Office and
home displays of objects “found in a little market” are used to remind the
owner of the experience, reassure the owner of their prestige experience, and
make visitors to the office or home space aware of the experience. Similarly sportswear with location labels act
as sigils of experiential competition.
Obscurity of location has higher status, for example Hard Rock Beijing
has higher status that Hard Rock Cleveland.
More subtle symbols are seen in class rings, which signify other types
of experiences.
Cognitive displays are typically forthcoming in casual
conversation and begin with the ritual phrase “When I was in . . . “ Experientialists will include references to
their experiences in conversation to compete for status.
There are many types of experiences, and the main three
are event experiences, travel experiences, and attained experiences. Event experiences are participation in things
like music events, theater events, charity events that are typically local or
regional. However a trip out of town to
Broadway counts as an event experience.
The travel experience can be arranged in a hierarchy of
status based on mode of travel (bus, ship, air), number of people, and
destination or activity. A small group
tour trekking in the Himalaya Mountains has much more status than a bus trip to
Las Vegas, or a cruise to Grand Cayman Island.
Solo tourism off the beaten path is much higher status than any bus
tour.
Attained experience, like a college degree, is altogether
different. While travel experiences can
be purchased, like material goods, attained experiences take time and
effort. In some instances travel and
attained experience can be combined, for example trekking in the Himalayas. Training experiences, self development
courses, hobby competitions all require effort, and the visible symbols are
typically class rings or certificates.
Displays of diplomas, by faculty or by anyone, are ways to communicate
superiority of experience. Ironic
displays of a collection of college IDs are the same.
Evidence of experiences through conversation or physical
objects is a critical display feature of the Experientialist.
Habitat
Live theater, concerts, and similar events are a natural habitat;
however attendance can be a sign of social networking for the socialists, or of
gaining the experience, or even of both. Tour groups of all types are a natural
habitat. Historical locations are a
natural attractant for Experientialists.
Bed and Breakfasts are for the solo traveler Experientialist.
Variants
Because of the segmenting of experiences there are many
varieties of Experientialists, and individuals have been known to transform
from one type to another. For example
statusologists have long recognized the transformation from the group tourist
to the solo tourist, from the local and regional experientialist to the
national and international experientialist.
This inflation of destination is common with aging.
Culturalists /
Intellectualists
Identifying
features
Fashion and plumage for members of this group tend to be
anti-fashion, have no visible labels, and feature drab colors. Making distinctions between anti-materialists
and Culturalist takes training and careful observation. The stereotype of brown tweed jackets with
elbow patches is archaic. Elbow patches
have been removed in an attempt to counter this older identifier but the Harris
Tweed or brown corduroy jacket remains a staple fashion statement. Intellectualists will rarely wear class
rings, often a symbol found in the Materialist / Experientialist, but will
casually mention their collegiate, graduate, and post-graduate intellectual
provenance in conversation.
Conversation is a critical identifying feature for the
Culturalist / Intellectualists.
References to theory or critical theory is a definitive
characteristic. References to
post-modern anything is a definitive characteristic of the immature Culturalist
/ Intellectualist.
Immature Culturalists / Intellectualists can be
identified by desperately trying to be misunderstood. This engagement in the pursuit of
understanding is typical of the immature plumage or the serious status striving
Culturalist / Intellectualist.
Habitats
Members of this group are found in book stores, coffee
shops, live theater performances, art galleries, lectures, or watching films
(not to be confused with movies). A key
feature of any event is conversation about the event and even conversation
about the conversation of the event. Coffee
houses, especially those that encourage conversation or have weekly poetry
readings, would close without Culturalists / Intellectualists. There is a natural enmity between modernists
and post-modernists and their ranges rarely overlap.
Socialist
Identifying
features
Socialists can be identified by their name dropping
behavior. They will constantly mention other
people, especially people of perceived importance, in a familiar way. Further confirmation of this identification will
be found when they greet you, shake your hand, and use your name in
conversation. If the Socialist deems you
to be important or to have resources the conversation will move forward. If you are deemed unworthy by the Socialist
they will move on to another conversation.
While well dressed, the Socialist’s fashion will be traditional and
conservative such that no one will be offended by their style. Consequently members of this group will
appear bland but will perhaps accessorize with a single piece of flair, like a
brightly colored tie or a scarf.
Young and immature members of the socialist type can be
found in youth organizations in which there are opportunities to interact with
high prestige men and women. These are
typically organization with “Junior” in the name.
Habitats
Opportunities to engage in conversation in order to build
relationships are necessary features of the natural habitat for Socialists. Members
of this group can be found in any group setting in which there is an
opportunity to meet and greet people, especially people with access to power
and resources.
Humor mode off;
This was written as I was preparing material on “What
type of middle class are you”.
“Desperately
trying to be misunderstood” was used as a phrase by Prof. Kevin Bollinger who
embraces anti-fashion and intellectual rigor.
Keywords: social class humor types middle class positional goods
Keywords: social class humor types middle class positional goods
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