Muggleton, Naomi K., Trendl, Anna, Walasek, Lukasz, Leake, David, Gathergood, John and Stewart, Neil (2022) Workplace inequality is associated with status-signalling expenditure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (15). e2115196119. doi:10.1073/pnas.2115196119 ISSN 0027-8424.

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Abstract

Regional inequality is known to magnify sensitivity to social rank. This, in turn, is shown to increase people’s propensity to acquire luxury goods as a means to elevate their perceived social status. Yet existing research has focused on broad, aggregated datasets, and little is known about how individual-level measures of income interact with inequality within peer groups to affect status signaling. Using detailed financial transaction data, we construct 32,008 workplace peer groups and explore the longitudinal spending and salary data associated with 683,677 individuals. These data reveal links between people’s status spending, their absolute salary, salary rank within their workplace peer group, and the inequality of their workplace salary distribution. Status-signaling luxury spending is found to be greatest among those who have higher salaries, whose workplaces exhibit higher inequality, and who occupy a lower rank position within the workplace. We propose that low-rank individuals in unequal workplaces suffer status anxiety and, if they can afford it, spend to signal higher status.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Behavioural Science Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Income distribution, Equality -- Economic aspects, Social mobility, Welfare economics
Journal or Publication Title:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences
ISSN:	0027-8424
Official Date:	12 April 2022
Dates:	Date Event 12 April 2022 Published 14 February 2022 Accepted
Volume:	119
Number:	15
Article Number:	e2115196119
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.2115196119
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit:	15 February 2022
Date of first compliant Open Access:	11 April 2022
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:	Project/Grant ID RIOXX Funder Name Funder ID ES/P008976/1 [ESRC] Economic and Social Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269 ES/N018192/1 [ESRC] Economic and Social Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269 ES/V004867/1 [ESRC] Economic and Social Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269
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