What does status signalling do? When successful, what does it achieve?
I apologize in advance if this post is not appropriate for this subreddit.
I was reading this old post by Scott Alexander: Right is the New Left. In it, Scott talks about status signalling and the urge to be "cool" and be seen as such. Reading the article, I realized that much of the experience that Scott describes is alien to me. I understand on a theoretical level that status-seeking is a big thing. But I have only a hazy sense of it in practice.
Now, I am highly introverted, so I do not interact with people that much. I also have Asperger, so even when I do interact with people, there may be much that goes over my head.
I do not remember ever having a very clear sense of what my status was in the various groups I have been in, nor who was considered high or low status. I have a sense of whether people like me. And I have a sense of whether people people value my work and my jokes. But those are just some of the obviously useful aspects of social interaction. As far as I understand, status also has zero-sum components which hinge on being up-to-date with fashion and memes. For example, Scott writes in his article:
> So suppose we start off with a country in which everyone wears identical white togas. One day the upper-class is at one of their fancy upper-class parties, and one of them suggests that they all wear black togas instead, so everyone can recognize them and know that they’re better than everyone else. This idea goes over well, and the upper class starts wearing black. > > After a year, the middle class notices what’s going on. They want to pass for upper-class, and they expect to be able to pull it off, so they start wearing black too.
I do not remember ever having done this, nor do I particularly remember having noticed other people doing it. I remember that my sister talked about how her friends were doing this kind of thing when we were teens, but I do not think I actively noticed it.
But most importantly, I do not understand why people do the above. If you successfully signal high-status fashion sense like in Scott's example... then what? What does that achieve? Do people treat you differently? If so, how?
And what is the difference between signalling status towards strangers and signalling status towards people who already know you?
Moreover: Assuming that people treat you differently because you signal fashion sense... to what extent are these people rationally acting on incentives, and to what extent are they just being irrational? I can understand that it is rational to treat people better if they appear to be rich and powerful (because they might reward or punish you), but it is not obvious to me that fashion sense is useful.
Thanks in advance!