Flattening the gap between standard and premium reduces status hierarchies

Evidence

In Japan high-speed rail has multiple classes of seating. But the basic seats are extremely pleasant and clean by American standards. Wealthier passengers can pay a bit more for a Green car upgrade, but it offers only marginal improvements. By contrast, economy class air travelers dream of upgrades to business class on international flights, because there is a huge gulf between sitting upright in cramped quarters for twelve hours and napping horizontally after a multicourse steak dinner. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 819

Categorization

• SEED: The Japanese-train versus airlines contrast is a vivid concrete case for how goods design itself can flatten or amplify status.
• XREF: connects to: Status is zero-sum and cannot rise for everyone at once — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 73; Major ideologies merely replace one status hierarchy with another — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 821; Low social status causes measurable physical and mental illness — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 72 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Standardizing wages removes the third party’s exploitative advantage #exemplifies (0.85)
• Status hierarchies reduce conflict by limiting meaningful comparisons between groups #complicates (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2749