Status-seeking makes many choices nonrational yet still materially rewarding
Evidence
But this presents us with an uncomfortable truth. If status guides our behavior, we make many choices for nonrational reasons. And this leads to skepticism about status value as a genuine value. Status value is fleeting and out of our personal control. It is always contingent upon where a convention sits within the social structure. Where we do choose for status value, our brains obfuscate the reasons and tell us we are desiring something more rational. But status value, despite how much we dislike and distrust it, does make a material impact on our lives. We must adopt practices with status value to gain higher status. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 187
Categorization
- XREF: Pairs with the thesis ‘Small acts of decorum toward corpses matter more than practical logic’ — both claim nonrational social conventions still carry real material force. — connects to: Status value alters both preferences and actual brain pleasure pathways — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 155; Status pursuit rationally outweighs practical utility in many consumer decisions — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 154; People rationalize status desires as quality and beauty preferences — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 294 (+8 more)
- QUESTION: The claim that brains obfuscate status motives — is there a mechanism cited anywhere, or is this asserted?
Broader Connections
- People rationalize status desires as quality and beauty preferences
#exemplifies(0.82) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 294 - Status seeking acts as an invisible hand generating culture
#expands(0.80) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 25 - Status-seekers rationally join groups that reward the virtues they already possess
#complicates(0.78) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 100 - Attention and status-seeking motivate people to endure micro-celebrity’s costs
#expands(0.76) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 409 - Rational calculation alone would generate status seeking regardless of innate drive
#qualifies(0.75) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 63 - Seeking status is a fundamental human desire that never reaches satiation
#qualifies(0.74) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 22