Visible group distinctions make people link personal needs to group status

Evidence

Allport suggested that in heterogeneous societies in which group distinctions are noticeable, there is a tendency for people to link their individual material and identity needs to the interests of their group. Consequently, when collective social mobility is possible, people are especially attuned to actual or potential changes in the status of their own and other groups. These concerns for group status produce competition between groups for material resources and for value dominance. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1473

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to social identity theory and to existing vault material on group threat as a driver of prejudice and intergroup competition. — connects to: Status-seeking techniques like self-branding reflect and reinforce existing social hierarchies. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 48; Youth adjust aspirations to match perceived positions of their own social group — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 1140; People signal status by using symbols associated with top groups — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 210 (+3 more)