How important is it to you to belong to a higher social class? It turns out that those with the strongest need for it, as a rule, approve and justify inequality in society (“If all wages were equal, no one would work!”), condemn poverty and blame it on the poor themselves.
“In the event of a loss of their well-being and social status, it is these people who are most psychologically vulnerable, they experience real suffering,” assure Ariel Malka and Dale Miller (Ariel Malka, Dale T. Miller), researchers at Stanford University (USA). Conversely, those whose self-esteem does not depend on income and status are traditionally supporters of the idea of equality (“People have almost the same needs!”). So it’s worth working on our self-esteem: not changeable material goods, but our true individuality will allow us to creatively deal with any twists of fate.