For every winner in status group battles, there must also be losers. The pioneering sociologist Max Weber found that dominant groups that tumble down the hierarchy develop particularly strong resentments: “The more they feel threatened, the greater is their bitterness.” Status envy is a common source of conflict in multiethnic states. When the majority Buddhist Sinhalese lost their monopoly on political power in Sri Lanka and the government started to provide job opportunities for Tamils, the Sinhalese rioted. Recent political turmoil in the United States also appears to resemble status envy.
