Shrinking groups become more salient and vocal, not less

Evidence

The requirements on members can get more extreme when subcultures start to shrink in size. As ganguro scared away normal girls from the kogyaru style, the remaining members developed their own unique looks on the streets of Tokyo, incomprehensible to outsiders. This phenomenon echoes a principle seen in linguistics: languages of small Indigenous populations develop more complicated grammars and more difficult sounds than widely spoken tongues. When subcultures are small cults, the most dedicated members receive more status than hangers-on, which incentivizes the core members to indulge in even more extreme practices with higher signaling costs. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 426 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Strong Christian nationalist embrace is shrinking, not growing; Nostalgia for an imagined golden age drives resistance and fear — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 199; Fear-driven groups become the very threat they fear — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 417 (+3 more)

Related

• Shrinking subcultures grow more extreme as core members chase escalating status (similarity 0.89)

Broader Connections

• Shrinking subcultures grow more extreme as core members chase escalating status #expands (0.88) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 426
• Every marginal group-size change alters its sociological form #expands (0.80)
• Identity salience shifts with the scale of the surrounding group #qualifies (0.75)