The status of being or the achievement of becoming? Towards better understandings of cars as status symbols

Bibliographic Data

ID3977400
AuthorsHelen Fitt (0000-0002-8741-0701, Lincoln University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume24
Issue6
Pages968-986
Publication date2023-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2021.2000014
OpenAlexW3213738813
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited79

This research responds to claims that status motivates car use. It extends understandings of what status is and of how status influences car use practices. The paper begins with a theoretical exploration of the concept of status and continues with a case study exploring how individuals in Christchurch, New Zealand, relate to status concerns associated with cars. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research, the paper finds that participants conceptualised status in terms of multidimensional hybrid assemblages of meaning. Further, a car had to match a person’s wider social and cultural context in order to perform as a status symbol. Cars that symbolised a sense of intentional accomplishment or progression were most often associated with desired dimensions of status. The paper concludes by noting that status symbolism reflects a complex interplay of social dynamics, and that status is more than a characteristic of a material object

Aesthetics · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Object (grammar · Social science · Social status · Sociology · Symbol (formal · History · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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