Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is rationally protecting what status you do have, not fooling yourself into believing you are much higher status than you appear. This is normal behavior you can see discussed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersignaling . The embarrassed millionaires theory infantilizes working-class people with a false-consciousness argument that doesn't seem to understand that class warfare has gradations other than "ric…
Distinguishing yourself as being in a separate class from someone else has nothing to do with preserving anything, that sounds like absolute nonsense to me. Its some classiest BS designed to keep the poor working class fighting each other
* whether people invite you to social events
* how people treat you when you ask for help
* what kind of sex partners you have access to
* your own perception of yourself as worthy and accomplished
It's not an economic class thing, it's a social class thing and would exist even if everyone had the exact same income.
Meanwhile reaching for millionaire status when you don't really have it is stressful. Other people will push you back down and you have to fake a lot of behaviors you don't really know how to use. So people generally accept their level instead of identifying with a higher class. This is true in theory and also when you actually talk to them.