Social status is a promising concept to capture different societal inequalities and perceptions of them, which can then powerfully influence political behavior. However, little is known about the social comparisons that affect how individuals position themselves within a societal hierarchy. We explore these implicit social comparisons by asking: Which reference groups do individuals compare themselves to and what determines their salience? We pay specific attention to perceptions of a changing society. Which groups are perceived to move upwards and which downwards? Furthermore, we also consider normative evaluations of present group hierarchies: Are some groups perceived to receive too little or too much respect? These perceptions are expected to differ among voters, by both socio-demographic characteristics and subjective identities.
To answer these questions, we use open-ended questions fielded in an original survey in Germany and analyze them using quantitative text analysis. This study makes two important contributions: First, it provides substantial evidence on how voters see their place in a changing society. Which conflict dimensions – economic and/or cultural – matter for voters’ perceived social status and how are status anxieties related to changing cleavage structures? Second, the study makes a measurement contribution and helps to clarify what underlies current measures and survey items of subjective social status. So far, it is often unclear what items like the social ladder question measure, especially over time and between different groups.