Scarce perks both motivate ranking pursuit and reveal one’s position

Evidence

Social position and social benefits are inextricably linked, because perks such as superior hotel suites, first-class cabins, and front-row seats are finite in supply. If everyone can go to the VIP room, it’s not a VIP room. Organizations motivate members by distributing the spoils in accordance with the hierarchy, which means for every benefit, there will be a cut-off point: those above the line receive it, and those below don’t. In the heyday of the exclusive New York nightclub Studio 54, super-high-status artists and movie stars entered without waiting, attractive people waited in line but eventually got in, and everyday people were denied entry. At New York’s High School of Art and Design in the early 1980s, the pioneering graffiti writer Lady Pink had to compete with others to get a seat in the cafeteria: “We specifically had a Writer’s Table. So for years and years whoever was the best automatically got the best table. Anyone who was worthy would sit, anyone else who wasn’t worthy would just stand around.” This link between hierarchy and benefits has two important effects: we care a lot about our ranking, because it determines the benefits we receive; at the same time, we can deduce our position in the hierarchy at any time by comparing our benefits with those of others. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 53

Categorization

• XREF: The two effects — caring about rank because it determines benefits, and reading rank from comparing benefits with others — connect to the Milgrom reputational-enforcement and social-comparison literature already in the knowledge base. — connects to: Achievement-based status only works when few attain the feat — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 302; Uncertain rewards generate more attention and attachment than guaranteed ones — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 194; Status-seeking makes many choices nonrational yet still materially rewarding — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 187 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Uncertain rewards generate more attention and attachment than guaranteed ones #expands (0.82) — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 194
• Those low in status need stronger signals to compensate for low-status cues #expands (0.79) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 202
• Seeking positive distinctiveness through competition generates conflict over scarce resources #expands (0.76) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2745
• Status pursuit rationally outweighs practical utility in many consumer decisions #exemplifies (0.75) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 154
• Status-seeking makes many choices nonrational yet still materially rewarding #expands (0.74) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 187
• A single moment of perceived glory can structure a lifetime of pursuit #exemplifies (0.73)