In his latest book entitled, The Spiritual Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, British epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson gives a critical evaluation of the social problems besetting society.
Wilkinson particularly focuses on Western societies and Western culture whilst elucidating on the idea of status competition.
What is Status Competition?
Building on the writings of Professor of Economics at Cornell University's S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, Robert Frank, Richard Wilkinson seeks to show how status competition causes problems for the individual as well as for society all the way up the social scale.
Status competition is essentially, being very sensitive to how we (the individual) are judged. It was the late French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) who first attempted to show how much of material consumption is about status competition.
Examples of Status Competition
Status competition is endemic in many societies today. Wilkinson for example, points out that girls spend thousands of pounds on make-up kits, fake hair, expensive cosmetic surgery and handbags with the right labels in order to make statements about themselves.
On the other hand, a young man, who for example, already has a fine car, may splash out heavily to buy an even bigger, more flashier and excessively expensive car in the pursuit of further recognition and status within his environment.
Personal savings and income are used, people work much longer hours, get into more debt and spend more in order to perpetuate these ‘statements about themselves’.
Consumerism in Society
Wilkinson believes that consumerism is partly to blame for status competition. Societal pressures and cultural values surrounding the individual are also blamed.
Consumerism, says Wilkinson is so powerful because humans are so highly social. It is not that people have an unquenchable desire to accumulate material wealth; rather, argues Wilkinson, it is that we as individuals are so concerned with how others see us all the time.
According to Wilkinson, it is a matter of sensitivity which lies at the heart of status competition. A person experiences his or herself through another person’s eyes – hence the need to ‘look good’ and compete for a ‘high status’.
This affirms Wilkinson is the prime motivational factor behind the expensive labels, flash cars, excessive clothes, over-zealous make-up and the flaunting of wealth.
Sources:
Frank, R. (2000) Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Frank, R. (2007) Falling Behind: How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle-Class (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Wilkinson, R., Pickett, K. (2009) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better (Allen Lane).
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