Status Motive
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The status or prestige motive is especially relevant to a dynamic society. The modern affluent person is often pictured as a status seeker. Such a person is accused of being more concerned with the material symbols of status- the right clothes, the right car, the right address and a swimming pool or the latest computer software and telecommunications equipment- than with the more basic, human oriented values in life. Although the symbols of status has been in existence since there have been two or more persons on the earth.
Status can be simply defined as the relative ranking that a person holds in a group, organization or society. Under this definition, any time two or more persons are together, a status hierarchy will evolve, even if both have equal status. The symbols of status attempt to represent only the relative ranking of the person in the status hierarchy. The definition also corrects the common misconception that "status" means "high status". Everyone has status, but it may be high or low, depending on how the relative positions are ranked.
How are status positions determined?..