About this episode

Will Storr discusses the importance of status in human behavior and social interactions.

You may think that you don't care about status. You may tell yourself that since you're not bothered about material displays of wealth, that means that you are above petty disputes over where one stands in the social pecking order.  The author and journalist Will Storr says you're wrong. Everybody cares about status, he argues, even if we don't realise it. We are evolved to obsess over status, and to immediately recognise it. You don't identify a high status person (solely) through their expensive car or designer clothes. You also notice their more relaxed postures, their better health, the fact that other people interrupt them less often, the fact that they have more friends. Everyone wants to be high status, whether or not they'll admit it.   These status games aren't something we can avoid, but by better understanding them we can play them more judiciously. That's what Will Storr's book, The Status Game , is all about.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Louise Perry

Guest: Will Storr

Topics covered

• status
• social hierarchy
• evolution
• psychology
• relationships

Keywords

• status
• social pecking order
• evolution
• psychology
• Will Storr

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Status Game

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