Distinctiveness is tolerated only for those who already have high status

Evidence

But alas, unconventional acts are tolerated only for those who already have high status. Sociologist George Homans explains, “To keep his high status a man must provide rare and valuable services to others, but so long as he does that, the other members may allow him some leeway in lesser things. He may even take the leeway. Mere slavish conformity to any old norm may put him back among the masses instead of keeping him set apart from them.” And so the higher our status, the more distinctive we can be, and the more distinctive we must be. By this same logic, middle-status people tend to be conservative. “The living rooms of the lower middle class,” writes the linguist Rudi Keller, “exhibit a higher degree of conformity than those of the upper middle class, while the living rooms of the upper middle class are less individual than the living rooms of the upper classes.” Lower-status individuals, if already outside the realm of social approval, may also live more freely because they have nothing left to lose. But lower-status distinction is interpreted as mere rule breaking. Respected distinction is an elite privilege. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 175

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Optimal distinctiveness research ignored competing motives like status; The ‘be yourself’ mandate disadvantages those outside privileged attributes — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 287; The authenticity ideal structurally favors the already high-status — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 275 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• The authenticity ideal structurally favors the already high-status #corroborates (0.92) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 275
• Demanding authenticity from the status-disadvantaged protects existing status hierarchies #corroborates (0.90) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 287
• The ‘be yourself’ mandate disadvantages those outside privileged attributes #corroborates (0.88) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 287
• People trade off imitation against distinction based on their status position #expands (0.85) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 182
• Optimal distinctiveness research ignored competing motives like status #expands (0.72)