Status congruence across capital forms entrenches inequality despite meritocracy

Evidence

This clustering is called status congruence, and it works to stabilize the status rankings. An individual’s minor achievement in one area may not lead to a significant jump up the ladder; a multifront effort is required to prove greater importance. Despite claims of achieved status, status congruence reveals exactly how inequity becomes entrenched over time. Yes, many inspiring individuals made impossible status leaps; funk music pioneer James Brown was orphaned, grew up in a brothel, and was sent to prison as a juvenile, only to achieve fame and financial success at a global scale. But lingering ascribed status structures and the existence of status congruence means the wealthy and their offspring will always have an easier time gaining and maintaining high status than those born into families without capital. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 90

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Understanding status mechanisms is a precondition for reducing inequality; Status dynamics let hegemony persist without any conspiracy — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 810; Achieved status remains heavily dependent on ascribed group membership — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3161 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Achieved status remains heavily dependent on ascribed group membership #corroborates (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3161