Buzz
Trying to outdo others isn't the best way to form connections. As reported by The Outline, a recent study in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that showing off status symbols actually makes people less inclined to befriend you.
While some may think that wearing expensive watches or designer clothes will attract others, it often does the opposite, making you a less appealing potential friend. This was shown by a team of researchers from Michigan, Singapore, and Israel. Through six different experiments, they found that participants believed high-status markers, like luxury cars, would help them make new friends. This trend held true across both participants recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk and upscale shoppers surveyed in a wealthy neighborhood.
Participants thought that showing up at an outdoor wedding in a luxury car or wearing a high-end brand-name watch at a downtown bar would make others more likely to befriend them. However, they also expressed a stronger preference for befriending someone with simple cars and generic clothing over someone flaunting designer items.
The contradiction becomes clearer when you consider the concept of 'keeping up' with others. People seek to appear more successful than those around them. They don't want to socialize with those flaunting luxury items—they want to be the ones standing out.
