Which person outside of your family or friends do you think has ad the strongest influence on you? How would you describe this person’s influence on you? How much influence do you believe that you have on others? On whom and in what way have you had the most influence?
accessory : something added to a machine or to clothing, which has a useful or decorative purpose • addict : a person who cannot stop doing or using something, especially something harmful • afford : If you can afford something you are able to buy or do it because you have enough money or time • convey : to express a thought, feeling or idea so that it is understood by other people • enduring : existing for a long time • envy : to wish that you had something that another person has • flawless : perfect or without mistakes • function : to work or operate • furnish : to provide with furniture; to put furniture in • high-tech device : an object or machine that uses advanced technology and which has been invented to fulfill a particular purpose • hit it off : get along well with someone, especially when first meeting them • humiliating : making you feel ashamed or stupid • inferiority complex : a feeling that you are not as good, as intelligent, as attractive, etc. as other people • janitor : a person employed to take care of a large building, such as a school, and who deals with the cleaning, repairs, etc. • loyal : firm and not changing in your friendship with or support for a person or an organization, or in your belief in your principles • manifest : to show something clearly, through signs or actions • material : a physical substance which things can be made from • mortgage : an agreement which allows you to borrow money from a bank or similar organization, especially in order to buy a house or apartment, or the amount of money itself • odd : strange or unexpected • owe : to need to pay or give something to someone because they have lent money to you, or in exchange for something they have done for you • pace : the speed at which someone or something moves, or with which something happens or changes • peer : a person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as other people in a group • plague : to cause worry, pain or difficulty to someone or something over a period of time • postpone : to delay an event and plan or decide that it should happen at a later date or time • prestigious : greatly respected and admired, usually because of being important • progress : to improve or develop in skills, knowledge, etc • rewarding : giving a reward, especially by making you feel satisfied that you have done something important or useful, or done something well • social class : a group of people within society who have the same economic and social position • socialize : to spend the time, when you are not working, with friends or with other people in order to enjoy yourself • status : the amount of respect, admiration or importance given to a person, organization or object • stimulating : If something is stimulating, it encourages new ideas • struggle : to experience difficulty and make a very great effort in order to do something • substantial : large in size, value or importance • tendency : a likelihood to behave in a particular way or to like a particular thing • tire of : to be annoyed by something • top-of-the-line : best in a group of similar products • ultimate : most extreme or important because either the original or final, or the best or worst • upgrade : to improve the quality or usefulness of something, such as a machine or a computer program, or give a person a more important job or state that their job is more important than it was in the past • well-off : rich
01 As a child, did you feel that most of your peers were better off materially (in terms of their homes, toys, clothing, and so forth) than you were?
A Yes, I felt that way almost always.
B Quite often.
C Sometimes.
D Rarely.
E Never.
How well off was your family when you were growing up? When you were a child, did you envy any of your friends or classmates? If so, for what did you envy them? Do you sometimes envy others now? If so, for what do you envy them?
02 Do you tend to buy a new mobile phone even while your old one is still functioning flawlessly?
A Yes.
B No.
What mobile phone do you currently use? Why did you choose this model? What are your main considerations in selecting a mobile phone—brand, price, styling, functionality, or something else? Are there any other high-tech devices besides a mobile phone that play an important role in your life? If so, can you describe the influence that they have on your lifestyle?
03 How much does it bother you when you cannot afford something that you really want?
A Very much.
B Quite a bit.
C That depends on what it is.
D Not much. I don’t mind waiting until I have the money.
E Not at all.
How often do you find yourself in the situation described? What sort of material things do you tend to want to buy? Why do you think this is the case? Do you currently owe money because of a purchase you made of something you did not truly need? What is something you don’t have now that you hope to buy in the future?
04 Do you think that it’s important to upgrade your lifestyle whenever you can afford to?
A Yes.
B No.
When was the last major improvement in your quality of life? How was your life improved? How satisfied are you with the material conditions of your current life? In what areas do you most hope to “upgrade” your lifestyle?
05 Do you buy top-of-the-line products (such as wines or personal accessories) when you really can’t distinguish what makes them better than less expensive products?
A Yes, at least sometimes.
B No, never.
Do you tend to believe that famous brands are in general truly better than unknown ones? Whichever way you answer, can you give some examples of products that illustrate why you have this position? What are some of your favorite brands? What attracted you to them? What about them has won your loyalty?
06 How do you generally react when you meet someone for the first time?
A I feel comfortable and in control of the situation.
B I feel uneasy and am likely to be plagued by feelings of inferiority.
C Sometimes I feel one way, sometimes the other. It depends on whom I’m meeting and what the circumstances are.
What sort of impression do you generally aim to give people the first time you meet them—for example, warm, energetic, or sincere? Do you consciously use any tactics to convey this impression? Do you think people’s first impression of you is substantially different from how you really are? If so, in what ways? Have you ever hit it off with someone you met for the first time, but later found that you really disliked this person? Or, has the contrary occurred—you gradually came to like someone who made a bad initial impression on you?
07 Do you feel that close social contact with a person of a lower social class than your own would be boring and unrewarding for both of you?
A Yes.
B No.
Do you have any friends whom most people would consider to be “of a lower social class” than you? Are there any types of people that you refuse to associate with—for example, homosexuals or drug addicts? If so, why? If you were to become very rich or famous, do you think your circle of friends would change substantially? Why or why not?
08 Do you think many of the people you work or socialize with are smarter than you are?
A Yes.
B No.
Besides yourself, who is the smartest or most capable person at your workplace? What, if anything, have you learned from this person? How do you think people at work see you? Do you think their view of you is accurate? When you meet people who are smarter or more able than you, do you easily develop an inferiority complex? If not, why not? If so, how does this inferiority complex manifest itself, if at all?
09 Which of the following statements better reflects your true feelings?
A I’d like to have a job with an important title (such as “executive vice president”) even if the work were dull, routine, and unimportant.
B If the work were stimulating, you could call me a janitor and I wouldn’t mind.
How prestigious do you consider your current job to be? What job in another field would you consider to be about equally prestigious? Which, if any jobs, would you find it most humiliating to have? Why? If you were a janitor, how would you feel about it? What about being a janitor would probably trouble you most—low pay, low prestige, or the nature of the work itself?
10 Would you take a pay cut of more than 20 percent to get a job that you really liked?
A Yes.
B No.
Would you describe your current job as one that you “really like”? What other jobs have you held? Which do you consider your favorite? Why? What would be your ideal job?
11 Do you tend to agree or disagree with this statement: “To progress in life, one must spend a little more than one can afford”?
A Agree.
B Disagree.
How satisfied are you with the pace that you are progressing in life? What is your ultimate aim in life, if any? If you were to spend money to “progress in life”, what would you most likely spend it on? Why?
12 Do you find that after you’ve bought something, no matter how much you like it at first, you tire of it quickly?
A Yes.
B No.
If your answer was yes, can you give some examples? Does this tendency of yours apply to other things—for example, food, love affairs, or clothes? What do you consider to be your favorite belonging? How did you obtain it? Why is it your favorite? Can you think of anything that you liked as a child, but dislike now? How did you come to dislike it?
13 Look back over the last five years and think of the new sports, hobbies, and interests you’ve taken up. Have you dropped more than half of them within two years of your first interest in them?
A Yes.
B No.
What are some examples of new sports, hobbies, and interests that you’ve taken up only to give them up after a short time? Why did you give them up or lose interest? What sports are you most involved in now? What are your main hobbies? What subjects are you most interested in? What is your most enduring interest? When did you first develop this interest?
14 If you had a limited amount of money and had to choose one of the following options, which would you select?
A Buying the best house in the best neighborhood you could possibly afford, even if you had to struggle to meet the mortgage payments and postpone buying furniture for the place.
B Buying a modest house in a less expensive area with enough money left over so that you could furnish it comfortably and meet the mortgage payments without worry.
Can you explain why you chose the answer that you did? In what neighborhood do you currently live? How satisfied are you with this neighborhood? Can you describe the home you live in—for example, how many rooms it has, how it’s decorated, and so forth? Do you own it? In which neighborhood would you most like to live? Why?
15 In which neighborhood would you rather live?
A One where most people are like you.
B One where people of different, and sometimes odd, backgrounds live.
Why did you choose the answer that you did? Would your answer be the same if you were living in a foreign country? Would you describe the neighborhood where you currently live as more similar to A or to B? Have you ever lived in a neighborhood that was more like the other type?
18 to 33 : You are definitely your own person, with little interest in status. You likely have an inquiring, unorthodox mind, and might do innovative work in science or the creative arts. However, you may run into trouble in the real world, where people are intimidated by your maverick approach to life. Oddly enough, you may go through periods of being extremely conformist and status-oriented. People like you often feel isolated, and use such periods to prove to themselves that they could fit into the larger world if they wanted to.
34 to 51 : Like most people, you are not immune to the charms of status, nor are you a slave to them. You’ll never be the first person on your block to acquire the trendiest product, but you won’t be the last either. You probably conform to the norms of mainstream society, and want the things that most people want without resenting others for doing better. You feel free to develop your own interests as well, and are likely to be quite happy. Your reluctance to try new things however may lead to a sense of boredom or the feeling of often falling into a “rut.”
52 to 66 : There’s a strong chance that you’re heavily influenced by status and that you rarely act without calculating how others will view your actions. You judge yourself mostly by external rather than internal standards, and may be afraid to act on your own unless you know that you will win favor with those whom you respect. You have the comfort of knowing that you are an integral part of a larger group, and since you are attuned to status, you often pick up on trends before they burst out into the larger world. However, people in this category often feel troubled, feeling that they’ve sold out or crushed the distinctive parts of themselves to conform to the status norms of their group.
