Cecilia L. Ridgeway > Quotes

“People care about their social worth, their status, quite as much as they care about money and power. In the classic film On the Waterfront, the character played by Marlon Brando famously laments, “I could have been a contender, I could have been somebody.” The familiar yearning to “be someone” in life is not so much about money and power as about being publicly seen and acknowledged as worthy and valuable by the community. So status is not merely an instrumental cultural device for managing common situations; it is a deeply felt and highly consequential personal ranking.”
― Cecilia L. Ridgeway, Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter?