This is lecture 5.2 of [[Rob Henderson]]'s [[PA Psychology of Social Status]] on [[Peterson Academy]]. This section is primarily based on [[Will Storr]]'s book [[The Status Game]]. Will Storr argues that there are three kinds of status games—as in "ritualistic, predictable interactions." They are: 1. Dominance 2. Virtue 3. Success Virtue and success coincides with the idea that we are looking for good moral character and competence when assessing a stranger. ## Dominance Games The original status game, slowly ruled out throw self-domestication and execution in preference for prestige competitions. ## Virtue Games Competing for perceived moral superiority. ### Moral Grandstanding People publicly signal their virtues and beliefs in order to accrue status. This can even happen at a cost, like businesses that display some belief that would lose some business for them, they win in this virtue game. ### Virtue Signaling In a society that collectively sympathizes the victim, there is an incentive to broadcast mistreatment and publicly claim victimhood. ### Aversive Medical Treatments Historically, we have many medical treatments that were gruesome. The idea behind that is that people who fake victimhood or illness would not be "let off" easy, which allows others to believe their claim to illness. Only really sick people would claim to be so. ## Success Games Competing for money, and high social positions in society. ### Counter Signaling Self-handicapping. A high status individual exhibiting low status behavior that not only does not lower their status but gets them even higher status. PhD students at lower ranked universities are more likely to use verbose language in their paper titles. Professors at lower ranked universities are more likely to refer to themselves using titles. Self-deprecating humor increases high status people's likability, but is not perceived well if done by low status individuals. --- ## Status Ambiguity [[Robert Goud]] in [[Collision of Wills]] argued that status ambiguity or status equivalence gives rise to higher chance of conflict and violence.[^1] ### Association Value But we still tend to be friends with people of similar status. --- Back to: [[PA Psychology of Social Status]] Previous Note: [[Status and Stories]] Next Lecture: [[Luxury Beliefs]] [^1]: Echoing [[Rene Girard]].