Status Anxiety: The Historical Development of Social Status and Why it Causes Anxiety among Individuals

In the novel The Red and the Black, the author Stendhal tells the story of Julien, a carpenter’s son who leads a miserable life due to his humble background. Julien is a fervent admirer of Napoleon because Napoleon abolished the long-standing feudal system and aristocracy, and advocated meritocracy. Many senior officials in Napoleon’s government came from the underclass. Julien dreams of following in the footsteps of his hero with his intelligence and abilities. However, Julien lives in the time of the Restoration, an era in which there was rigid social stratification. It was hardly possible then for ordinary people to improve their social status. Therefore, Julien employs all kinds of disgraceful methods to improve his status. He initially seduces the mayor’s wife, and then worms his way into the Marquis’s daughter’s confidence. Julien thought that he could take this opportunity to achieve his dream of becoming a noble, but he ends up facing the brutal reality of death from the guillotine.

The anxiety for social status possessed Julien. This kind of stress is ubiquitous among humans. The British writer Alain de Botton discusses this phenomenon in his book Status Anxiety. The book made a painstaking investigation into the causes of status anxiety, and explored ways to relieve this kind of concern from the various perspectives of philosophy, art, politics, and religion. After publication, the book gained tremendous popularity among British readers. It was later translated into dozens of languages and sold well all over the world. A documentary adaptation of this book with the same title similarly gained extensive praise after its release and made its way around the world.