Your Brain at Work

Great article...I very much enjoyed it. I wonder how you feel about those people who are the minorities in any given population. Perhaps they may find another group to feel superior to in some way, but if they feel the majority are indubitably superior in status, they may create a self-made ceiling which is psychologically impenetrable. Maybe it says something about racial/gender/age equality, and where our focus should be put...at the least something to consider i suppose.

Having just completed CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training, and thus looking at the world from a perspective of trying to do the most good for the most people, I find myself disagreeing heartily with the importance you place on status. In a triage situation, (a hurricane blows your neighborhood down), the rescue workers are not going to be checking the size of your wallet or asking you what kind of "status" symbol you clutch, they will check your pulse and your airway and guage the severity of your wounds, and even if your wallet is bulging, if your situation is dire, you cannot buy your way to safety. Status matters not in a life or death situation, so why should I be fooled into thinking it matters within the rare tranquil lulls? Granted, you noted intelligence on your list of status symbols, and, though I see where you're heading with your reasoning, I tend to see intelligence as a necessity, not a glitzed and gilded trinket that serves no purpose than a boost of ego like a diamond ring or giant rims on an uneconomical bulk...when I bought a fishing pole last week, I wasn't thinking of status, I was thinking, "I can catch a fish or two and feed myself," not, "Whoa, this fishing pole is going to make me the envy of the shoreline!" Although, I'll admit that I did calculate the cost vs payoff of the venture ($30 pole, $10 licence, gas per trip, time sunk, lures, bait...these measured against the average cost of fish at the market, all in all, just to break even, I will need to catch quite a pile of fishes...but still, status hasn't yet bobbed into my decision-making wave.)

thank you for this enlightening article.

this very well explains the challenges i've encountered adjusting at work. Prior to moving to a new place of employment, i came from a managerial position. My new job is a non-management position with a relatively easy workload, i still found myself unable to focus. im usually a very adaptable person, i couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. and there were other factors that compounded my under-productivity.

thanks again!

I wonder how the study findings would correlate to a model like Spiral Dynamics, where there are different levels of complexity and corresponding value shifts in human thinking?

Very interesting read, and disturbing as well.

Whatever happened to self validation and emotional maturity? Do some people simply stop growing beyond adolescence?

I agree that the observations and insights presented have utility, and apply profoundly to many if not most adults. It would seem there is a continuum of affect between external and internal validation, one through which we should progress as we age and gain life experience. Too often this does not appear to be the case. I take that as an indictment of our materialistic, shallow culture, producing too many emotionally stunted, insecure individuals.

Also, thanks for closing with ‘Getting a status-rush without harming others' status’. That was… well, kind of sweet.

Hi there!

I just found your blog via your mindfulness post. Your research and interests seem to be along the same lines as my own. I look forward to reading your book!

As I read through this article, my mind instantly wondered: are some people are more intensely subjected to the neurological affects of perceived status changes than others? Can the same incident cause dramatically different neurological affects depending on the person? I'm guessing yes, but is there research that shows it?

The reason I'm asking is both academic and personal. I have anxiety issues. Intellectually, I'm quite divorced from them and I can often understand specific incidents after the fact quite clearly. However, I can't seem to stop the incidents with my rational mind. And, often, the incidents are related (I think) to the affect you're talking about here. It's like my brain has this dramatically overblown reaction to minor incidents. I break out in a light sweat and get a stress buzz in ridiculously non-threatening situations.

Because of this, I'm curious if some people are just born more sensitive to the peaks and valleys of status changes. Or, perhaps it is something that is a result of socialization (or a combo of genetics and socialization). Whatever the case, I think these ideas have potentially far-reaching consequences for people who suffer from social anxiety. In fact, it sounds to me like the implication of your article is that we must really rethink the roots of social anxiety and how to treat it.

Speaking of treatment, I'm with you re: drugs. However, relating this back to mindfulness, do you think one can massage one's neurological reactions to perceived threats through behavior modification? Does practicing mindfulness have a general calming affect at the neurological level, or does it just help people get out ahead of their outward reactions to uncontrollable neurological reactions?

Perhaps you answer these questions in your book!

Hi David,

I value your ideas and specifically in relation to the relativity of perception, and the reward/threat interpretation. Let me ask the following clarification questions:

1) The title of your article says: “Status: a more accurate way of understanding self-esteem.” my question is: more accurate than what?

2) I have always associated status with our desire for Esteem as opposed to Self-Esteem. Recently I wrote in an article: “while esteem is mostly about public perception – the desire to be esteemed or respected by others in order to gain status and acceptance, self-esteem is motivated by private beliefs and feelings – the desire for self-satisfaction, self-respect, self-confidence, achievement.” Any of these self-feelings is, as you suggested, relative to the context of the person.

Could you please clarify the differences between self-esteem and esteem in relation to status?

Many thanks
DK | www.viewfromconsumers.com

Fantastic article. Loved every line and will be thinking about it for a long time.

Hi David - great subject and hugely pertinent. I can't recommend Keith Johnstone's Impro enough (http://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/087...) for it's startlingly accurate break-down of how status plays out every moment to moment - how we are constantly adjusting it relative to others and ourselves.

While he shows how to recreate high and low status, he also explores status' meaning as far as what it reflects of the individual attempting to keep a status in a specific situation.

Hi David,

Very informative and thought-provoking article. I facilitate a group for teenage girls that addresses common stressors among teens and factors that impact self-esteem (i.e. rejection). I am often disturbed by the notion that healthy self-esteem occurs as a result of simply "believing in yourself". Although I do value the importance of self-confidence, I find that people (children and adults) in general often look for a point of reference when they attempt to define or measure their sense of self-worth. In working with my clients, it is my impression that there is less of a need to simply feel good about themselves, but rather feel good about themselves in relation to others. I particularly appreciate how you conceputualize this approach by recognizing the internal need to "feel better than..." and noting that competing against oneself is an option that I view as a healthy, safe, and constructive approach to increasing one's status. I welcome your input on how I might introduce this concept to teens and young adults or other suggestive reading.

I'd echo the questions that David Krzypow made a few posts above.

I have read about the self-esteem model which uses two components, one being the belief in one's ability to be successful in achieving goals, and the other being the belief that one is a good and deserving person. Does the "status model" of self-esteem invalidate this model, or is it more accurately viewed as another component of self-esteem?

How about the society which I live in where status is denied. Having moved from the UK to Denmark I see an awaful habit here of denying status. Even so you cannot avoid the reality of educational and financial differentials. Envy is a plague here yet everyone persists in deny statuts differentials. They even deny praising obvious achievement.

In my region, the poorest and most socialist, the people are very "inverted snobbish". Hence any real achievement is openly devalued. I find the whole think absurd but it does not work so much in Copenhagen where there are significant differentials which matter more in an expensive city. Many expats, like myself, who have good prospects and status are often sniped at and ignored. Hence we have a large network to help each other.

One has to assume that status is a local observable which cannot be denied and no matter how you denigrate and try to level another persons situation, the fact exisits that some have more and do more than others. That the neighbours enjoy great holidays in Italy becasue they have more resources does not make them any better but you cannot kill the envy. By and large the Danes are far from the happiest nation on earth. They are simply smug, somewhat naive as to the reality of a global society and keep deluding themselves about their peers. They also pop a lot of "happy pills" and really have low self-esteem. This means they are easily intimidated and scared off- hence their stand-offish nature in trying to avoid a status reminder. You have to experience it to believe it.

I now tease them. "Well, they are better aren't they? I say. "Their high taxes are a damn sight more than you offer the soeciety". This really irritates them. On a further matter, most people I know are financially better off than me (higher status). However, I am a well-educated guy and like and respect these people. The educated level is where we connect, not at the job description/cash level. We know we made our choices and the rewards will be different. Not an issue at all.

While you might see self-esteem as a local issue the nature of our social relations can work for or against these status differences. In Denmark there is a defensive perspective, a protective one. The low staus of one party is framing the interaction and that is a loser position. We must communicate as understanding and compassionate equals, wanting to listen and engage. Too often the conversational dice are loaded. This is why Danes underplay job, income and goods when you meet them. Still, they have to find out at some point and they are fiends for material gain and lending for image promotion (hence the high debt here). What a social mess!

The gist of this article jibes with my own experiences as a partner, employee, manager, student and professor. I like the "playing against oneself" solution, and think it's actually used in many companies where individuals set their own performance goals, which they have to meet/exceed to obtain a bonus.

The article suffers from several grammar mistakes, and it made it harder to understand a few sentences. I'm sure it would be even better if you could fix them (and improve the status of Psychology Today) :)