In this model, people aren’t just seeking status, they’re (also? instead?) seeking a state of affairs that allows them to believe they have status.
It seems like most situations that this theory covers are already explained by either:
(a) people seek status not only in the context of society at large but also in the context of small groups
(b) for the cases where no one else knows, ego—people seek to feel good about themselves (including that they are smart)
Perhaps the (b) cases are explained better by the “seeking plausible belief in own status” model, but I’m not sure that that’s clear, at least from what’s been written so far.
It seems like most situations that this theory covers are already explained by either: (a) people seek status not only in the context of society at large but also in the context of small groups (b) for the cases where no one else knows, ego—people seek to feel good about themselves (including that they are smart)
Perhaps the (b) cases are explained better by the “seeking plausible belief in own status” model, but I’m not sure that that’s clear, at least from what’s been written so far.