Local status within subcultures cannot substitute for global status in wider society

Evidence

From this perspective, membership in alternative status groups appears to be a clever strategy for oppressed and unprivileged individuals to maximize their status. But there is an obvious flaw in this approach: our most immediate community can only provide local status—the ranking inside the small group. Research has shown that local status is more important to personal happiness than global status, especially for self-esteem. And life is easier when living among sympathetic peers. But even if we hide in an alternative status group, we can’t escape our global status—the general ranking within broader society. For most, a high local status won’t translate into a high global status, which is required for access to the best benefits. A surfer can be a great hero among other surfers but just a “beach bum” up the shore. The wider the gap between the esteem we feel inside our status group and outside in the “real world,” the more we may feel inferior. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 101

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s knowledge of status signaling and framed groups from earlier in this book and to the local-vs-global prestige distinction in other prestige literature. — connects to: Subcultures form new status hierarchies for those lacking global status — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 399; Local subgroup norms, not national culture, sustain prejudice in the US — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1911

Broader Connections

• Subcultures form new status hierarchies for those lacking global status #responds-to (0.88) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 399
• Local subgroup norms, not national culture, sustain prejudice in the US #complicates (0.75) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1911