A review by inquiry_from_an_anti_library
The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It by Will Storr

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Is This An Overview?

Status is a social resource.  People seek to obtain status, and fear the loss of status.  Status is made through social interaction, by being superior to others.  Status is a source of meaning, and can be found in any system that has people interacting with each other.  Gaining status brings joy, while losing status feels dreadful.  Status can inspire people to attain skills, and knowledge, and develop inventions and create wealth that improves society.  Status can cause people to lie, cheat, and commit atrocious acts.  For status, each individual becomes the protagonist of the story, that they are a better person, no matter their behavior.  The flaw with status is that status is insatiable.  The expected happiness after an achievement, is transient.  Causing people to keep playing the status games.  The want for sustained happiness cannot be earned by playing the status game. 

 

The way to earn status depends on the game being played.  There are three types of games.  A single type might be prominent in an interaction, but status games are usually a mix of the types.  The three types of games are dominance games, virtue games, and success games.  Dominance games are about coercion and fear.  Virtue games are about being conspicuously dutiful, obedient, and moralistic.  Success games are about achievement of outcomes.  Different cultures have different ways to attain status or lose it.  Status in one game, does not necessarily transfer to having status in another game.

 

Humans are social animals, and have a desire to belong.  While belonging in a group can be mentally and physically rewarding, isolation can make people unhealthy.  Being part of a group changes how people think, deferring to the group and accepting the groups’ values as their own.  People will even believe very wrong ideas to be part of the group.  To be part of a status game, the brain filters and distorts information received, interprets information in a self-serving way.  Simplifying reality to make the individual and their group appear better than others. 

 

Caveats?

Diverse examples on the effects of status are provided, but they are explained in a similar manner.  There is a systematic analysis of status, but the information can become repetitive.