The Status Seekers

by Vance Packard

An exploration of class behavior in America and the hidden barriers that affect you, your community, your future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Politics, History, Social Science, Psychology

331 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Vance Oakley Packard was an American journalist and social critic. He was the author of several books, including The Hidden Persuaders and The Naked Society. He was a critic of consumerism.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume is Packard's follow-up to The Hidden Persuaders. In it he posits that despite our fond belief in America being a democratic society, we are in fact not classless. According to his studies of sociology and observations based on his travels and interviews, he outlines a "system of horizontal social strata" consisting of five divisions. In addition he presents a vertical system of cross-strata based on differentness, such as racial (Blacks, immigrants) and religious (Jews.) In other words you can be a wealthy, educated African American but that does not mean you are wholly or truly considered upper class.

He also points out trends following World War II and their results as of the the 1950s: the growing emphasis on college education, the tendency of big business to hire college grads for management positions instead of people with experience in running their own businesses, and the increase in technology as it influences blue collar professions.

I was not convinced that all his data adds up in the way he seemed to think it did, but he is one of only a few writers at that time who tackled the subject. He presents his findings in everyday language, taking them out of academia and to the streets.

As I read, I realized the stresses my parents were under while raising a family. They were both college graduates from families who were blue collar, second generation German immigrants. Although they claimed to resist the marketing pressures of the 1950s, they were proud to be homeowners who could afford to put an addition on the house as we grew up and to raise us in a "good" neighborhood in Princeton, NJ. They sent me and my two sisters to college. I think they felt they had achieved a somewhat upper middle class status and wanted us to live that way.

Of course, we entered college in the 60s, all became hippies, dropped out and took up alternative lifestyles. Then those lifestyles ended up being mainstream in the yuppie 90s. We were also raised with plenty of encouragement and opportunities in the arts. Packard states that artists, musicians, and writers float more effortlessly among the classes and I have found that to be true.

The Status Seekers is slanted against big business because of its regimentation which he documents at length. Packard is also clearly on the side of the common man and considers himself free of racial and religious prejudice. I suppose today he would be called a bleeding liberal.

The writing style is less lively than in his previous book. I did a good bit of skimming. He gets downright preachy in the final chapters and comes across as an innocent utopian. "If only people would..." People don't, in my experience. I admire him though, for telling it like it was and I hope he made some people uncomfortable. He provides a sociological perspective on how we ended up in a deep recession with the one percenters holding most of the wealth.

[Alan Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is less engaging than his other works and has remained more dated. It is as little ponderous at times and the author's ability to predict future trends is less accurate. There is much more attention paid to church and religion than is warranted and hardly any to issues of race. He didn't anticipate gender politics at all. However, for some of the core issues it is still useful reading.

[J.S. Nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mr. Packard needs a good dose of reality 😂

[J.D. Steens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packard tackles the argument that this country’s founding belief in equality is overstated and that it is a largely mythological way we like to see ourselves. Drawing from 1950s sociological research, he pulls out example after example to illustrate the pervasive hierarchical divisions in the U.S. Divisions are pervasive, both at the individual and group level. They apply across the full swath of society – education, income, jobs, sex, religion, friendship, clubs, etc. They apply to where we live and how and where we shop.

The book challenges the strong, Rousseau-like strain in contemporary political and anthropological theory (based on certain theoretical assumptions and limited anthropological evidence) that humankind is naturally equal and that it is “society” that corrupts. Arguments that society creates hierarchical division begs a deeper question about why society has such power. If it is there now, it is not unreasonable to assume that it has been there all along and that what we are seeing now is a vast difference in scale. Status provides value vis-à-vis others. Value translates to power, and power translates to the promotion of self-interest and survival.

Given these dynamics, self-control remedies are problematic. They are especially so in this book where Packard ends each chapter with weak suggestions that are not anchored in anything about who we are. Boiled down, there's really a war out there between two ways to promote self-interest. Both self-oriented (self-aggrandizement via power, deceit, etc.) and other-oriented behavior (with the group, the self survives; alone, the self dies) promote survival. The remedy for those who are for the good of the whole and who are against over-the-top status-seeking and self-promotion is to vigorously and forcefully put down all attempts of individuals and groups to promote themselves at another’s expense. Or, along the line of an old Indian group custom: the best hunter eats last.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half quaint, half revealing.

The author's tone in this book was, er, distinctive. I wonder if this is what 'academic' literature sounded like in the first half of the 20th century, or, if it was a put-on, a fake to appear 'intellectual', and therefore authoritative, to a mass market audience.

Some of the predictions for the future are laughable, but others, I was surprised to find how far back in time 'modern' trends had begun.

[Angie Fehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1959, The Status Seekers is a nonfiction work that looks at the various distinctions and divisions that crop up among social classes. As a starting point for his investigation, Packard poses the question, "Are we, as a society, classless?". Though this book will understandably read dated in some parts, there's still quite a bit here that will ring relevant in today's world!

Packard notes how people, in general, seem to constantly be measuring up their current position in society: assessing, judging, critiquing, approving, dismissing. People find themselves tempted to buy status symbols, hoping it will gain them the good favor of their peers, neighbors, co-workers, etc. We strive to have an abundance of leisure time because having a wealth of downtime, in a way, is a symbol of high status. Even when it comes to employment, people sometimes even take lower paying positions if it happens to be with a company that has more social respectability (ie. taking a sales job over factory work even if the factory pays better). Even children show signs of picking up on class distinctions.

But Packard asks, what do you do if those people you wish to impress don't approve of your "lower class" acquaintances? How far do you take your need to get in with the "in crowd"? Where is the limit, the cut-off where you put your foot down and refuse to change...do you have one, even? It gives the reader something to consider, for sure.

Packard also looks at class distinctions when it comes to various ethnic groups. To gather data for this book, he based himself in New York City, studying people from various minority communities, coming to the conclusion that class division seems to get more complex when social barriers run up against ethnic barriers. While observing the different communities in NYC, he was stunned to find that while there are barriers between minorities and Caucasian communities, there also seems to be ethic ranking between minorities groups -- he describes witnessing, on numerous occassions, people from Irish, Italian, and African American communities all turning / looking down on people from the Puerto Rican neighborhoods.

Within this text, Packard divides his research up into five units. Here's a general breakdown:

Pt. 1: Looks at how status, generally speaking, tends to be achieved and looks at the likely reasons people feel so driven to achieve high social status.

Pt. 2: Looks at the markers of status -- home, neighborhood, job, school, etc. Chapter 5 in this section is especially interesting, as it looks at "snob appeal" -- being part of an elite social club (paid membership or invite only) -- how far does that get you?; striving for that idyllic, Pleasantville kind of "home sweet home", the constant one-upping. He looks at the historical development of status symbols: once cars became more affordable, people seemed to make the home the major symbol of their good fortune in life. He also mentions the old trend of real estate agents writing up home listing partly in French to try to entice high bidders because French was considered "the language of snobs" LOL.

Part 2 also looks at the determining factors behind how much prestige a particular job might garner a person. One has to take into account how high up in the company the position gets you, the amount of authority and / or responsibility you have in that position, the type of clothes you wear for work, how much intelligence / experience is required to obtain that position, the dignity that comes with the title, financial rewards, even the very address of your office!

Even if your line of work is farming, Packard points out that you can be judged on the amount of acreage you have, what kinds of crops you work with, etc. People can lump a farmer into "limited success bracket" range unless he's working with huge acreage.

Packard even gets into the hierarchy that has historically existed within the field of prostitution!

Lastly, he looks at barriers and adjustment periods that tend to develop for people coming from different social classes or races, especially the effect on interracial relationships.

Pt. 3: Considers the "Strains of Status": what long-term price does one ultimately pay for aspiring to levels of presumed social success and respectability? Packard gets into the various mental illnesses that one might potentially develop from the strain of trying to measure up -- anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, ulcers, hypertension, allergies, other physical or psychosomatic problems.

Pt. 4: "Trends" of Status Seeking --- Packard's guess on where it looks like (or what it looked like in the 1950s-1960s, that is) this compulsion to steadily socially elevate oneself might be headed, the patterns / evidence in history that give us clues. This was one area where even readers of today can look at his thoughts and see, even now, he was not too far off on some of his estimations!

Pt. 5: looks at implications for the future... what does this drive for status mean for the future prosperity of the human race as a whole?


Though Packard does try to focus on facts and research for this book (as he should, of course), I also quite enjoyed when he would interject some of his own commentary on topics here and there. He offers asides here and there such as "class boundaries are contrary to the American Dream"; noting that discussion of class distinction, he found, generally make people uncomfortable but he did notice wives, as a whole, seemed to be more conscious of status than their husbands; at one point he even remarks, "Californians are the least status-conscious people in the nation." SAY WHAT?! Being a native Southern Californian myself, I laughed out loud reading this as that is anything but the truth these days! :-P Even if I didn't always agree with the guy, lines like these certain kept me turning pages to see what else he threw out there!

For an economics based book, I found Status Seekers (surprisingly) highly entertaining! Packard gets into a lot of engrossing, thought-provoking subject matter, not to mention that this one is likely to be kind of a fun read (even if just to browse through) for history buffs. It's neat to have works like this where readers of today can get a sort of first-hand look back at what economics and society looked like a few generations back and compare it to how far (and maybe how not that far at all sometimes, lol) we've come today!

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sociologist's research and interpretation of current trends toward social classes in the U.S.

I enjoyed the book.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puts society into perspective, and helpful to get rid of the idea of your unique self.

[Michael David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I made a few attempts in the past to sell this book. As no one else was interested in this book, however, I ended up still having it. I think I read about Packard's Hidden Persuaders being referred to in other non-fiction works, so I finally decided to read this work yesterday. I had no expectations whatsoever, so it was a pleasant surprise that most of its observations on class and society have remained relevant in the current Philippines.

Packard wrote that there are five classes in society. But instead of dividing society into the color of the collars its people wear or into levels of income, he proposed a sensible alternative: he divided society in terms of people's educational levels. The two major classes were the diploma elite, and the supporting classes. The diploma elite were further subdivided into the real upper classes, or Philippines' alta-sociedad, and the "upper-middle class," or the professionals with extensive levels of education. More than fifty years have passed, but the divisions still make a lot of sense.

Most particularly refreshing were Packard's observations on the classes' sexual sociology. Being an old soul, I had honestly thought that I was an obsolescent outlier in this highly sexually-charged world. Packard, however, told me that I wasn't alone:

"Unmarried males of the upper educational levels certainly do show more continence than males at any lower level ... While upper-level couples devise a variety of ways, before marriage, to handle their impulses short of coitus, there is some evidence that after marriage they feel less urgent concern about the sexual side of their union than lower-level couples do. Many [upper-level men] have restrained themselves so long - more than a decade after puberty - that they are far less likely than lower-level males to be sexually unfaithful after marriage. Not only are they inhibited sexually, but they wouldn't know how to go about plotting and carrying through a seduction."

I've always believed that a real gentleman with class will never mess around with a lady unless he is fully committed to her. It makes me glad that, at least fifty years ago, I wasn't alone. :)

In spite of its cogent observations, however, this book has aged poorly in certain parts. Packard's commentary about Jews and African-Americans have definitely aged poorly, as America had transitioned into an even more egalitarian society. Nevertheless, it's still a worthwhile book to open one's eyes toward other people's lives: most of us are myopic and comfortable being cloistered in our own class, yet other people and other classes live totally different existences.

Like the Ancient One in Doctor Strange said, "It's not about you."

[Roberto Bovina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prosperity and class differences; status symbols and status consciousness;
Ch.2 Social stratification; Ch.5 Home the favored status symbol
Ch.4 Obstacle course for outsiders, vertical strata-horizontal classes based on prestige; differentiation; Ch.9 Shopping for status, clothing; Ch.11 The sociology of sex appeal; Ch.12 Who can be a friend? Socializing, friendship patterns, parties, etiquette; Ch.14 Religious Renaissance
We compete for the symbols of bigness and success. We tend to judge people by their labels. And all too often we judge people on the basis of the status symbols they display.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written over 60 years ago, Packard's book is prescient about the social and cultural changes in American society - and despite his arguments about how to avoid schisms between classes, cultures, and races, we've fallen into many of traps that could have been avoided. But his prescriptions still ring true - bosses that spend time with their employees, for example, are less likely to make decisions that adversely affect those employees. Living int the same neighborhood as people who are different from you shatters stereotypes. The seeds of the issues we struggle with today were present in post-war society, but the solutions are available today, too.

[Strong Extraordinary Dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must have been thirty years ago I read this, but I remember liking it. I remember being impressed by how it casually and effortlessly this book described all of our (westerners') status seeking behaviours; how society's structures came to be formed from our status-seeking traits.

[Barbara Ab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically American as for the data he analyzes, out of date for the most of it, but still interesting in some parts

[Mary C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting to see how things have gotten MUCH worse since 1959

[Danielle Morrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A time capsule, which gave me some insight into my Mom’s family experience in the Midwest in the 1950s (when she was born)

[Greg Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

not merely a historical curiosity; from one of the most influential Americans of 20th century; social forecasts have come true, much to the cost of USA; perceptive and worrying

[Henry Fiol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've re-read this several times, and it never seems old or obsolete.

[~☆~Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this so long ago that I barely remember a thing about it but at the time it was very helpful for me. People are so shallow.

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this on the sidewalk in New York and liked the cover. A discussion of post war US social stratification, glass ceilings all over. Like it. Told in a style of strained objectivity. Mad Men the TV show, Revolutionary Road, the book?

[Beth]

See comment for A Texan Looks at Lyndon

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

dated

[Marvin Schult]

Empiezo a leer este libro 1 de Agosto 2017. Leo la versión en Español "Los Buscadores de Prestigio" " Una exploración de la conducta de clases en Estados Unidos, y de las barreras ocultas que lo afectan a usted en su comunidad, su futuro. "
Eudeba - Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires - Traducida por Floreal Mazía - Quinta Edición 1967 -