Personal identity is largely an outcome of status appraisal

Evidence

So, with respect to persona, identity, or self, status determines much of who we are. Our personas conform to the requirements for normal and high status, and our status position determines our demand for status symbols and our desired degree of distinctiveness. Identity appears to be the outcome of status appraisal. And the self absorbs status-related desires at an unconscious level and rationalizes them as authentic personal thoughts. This isn’t to say that humans are victims of status—just that we are inherently social creatures who, as sociologist Georg Simmel writes, “consist of interactions with others” (emphasis added). Modern questions of personal identity are best considered in the context of status. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 296

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the common intuition that identity is inner and authentic, while status is outer and superficial; echoes symbolic interactionism’s looking-glass self. — connects to: Status is granted by others’ recognition, never claimed unilaterally. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 194; Social status, not individual choice, determines most of any persona — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 283; Identity is granted by others’ status appraisals, not self-declared — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 289 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Status is relational comparison, not a fixed resource, and affects behavior through identity #expands (0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2736
• People trade off imitation against distinction based on their status position #corroborates (0.80) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 182
• Identification-driven well-being depends on felt agency and control, not perceived status or self-esteem. #complicates (0.80) — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We, 36
• Negational identity may stem from low-status individuals’ need to feel superior #exemplifies (0.78)
• For collectivists, group membership and relationships constitute personal identity #qualifies (0.72) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 1110