Psychologists consider the dream of absolute equality to be a utopia. The desire for status is a basic need. The most satisfied are those who outdo others – in a competition that never ends.
People need air to avoid suffocating, water to avoid dying of thirst, food to avoid starving and admiration to avoid withering. Yes, the desire for recognition and status is one of the basic human needs. Everyone wants to be thought of as great, even the super-modest types who would never admit it. Those who are respected or even admired by their fellow human beings are, on average, better off: personal well-being correlates with social status, as does mental and physical health. as studies worldwide have shown. Now there is a catch – as always. The human desire for status is “inherently competitive”, write psychologists Cameron Anderson and John Hildreth in a recent study in the journal Plos One.