You know that moment when someone’s energy shifts the entire room—and not in a good way?
I was at a brand launch event a few years back, the kind where everyone’s sizing each other up while pretending they’re not.
This guy walks in, immediately starts name-dropping every semi-famous person he’d ever met, interrupting conversations to show photos on his phone of “that time in Miami.”
Within ten minutes, the entire room had unconsciously reorganized itself to exclude him.
He wasn’t poor. He wasn’t badly dressed. But something about his behavior screamed insecurity in a way that made everyone uncomfortable.
After years working in spaces where perception is currency, I’ve watched how certain behaviors instantly telegraph low status—regardless of someone’s actual bank balance.
Sociologists have been studying these patterns for decades, and the research is brutal: We make class judgments within seconds, mostly based on behavior rather than material possessions.
Here’s what makes people seem lower class, according to the experts who study social stratification for a living.
1) Broadcasting every purchase or achievement
Real wealth whispers. This isn’t just a cute saying—it’s backed by research on class signaling.
Sociologists call it “conspicuous consumption,” but I call it the Instagram effect.
When someone needs to announce every restaurant visit, every upgrade, every small win, they’re essentially saying they’re not used to having nice things.
I’ve noticed this pattern everywhere from corporate meetings to dinner parties.
The people who genuinely have access to resources treat them as unremarkable. They don’t photograph their business class seat. They don’t announce their promotion to strangers.
The constant broadcasting reads as novelty, which signals that success is new or temporary rather than established.
2) Over-explaining your choices
Ever notice how some people justify everything? Why they chose this restaurant, why they bought that car, why their kid goes to this school?
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu identified this as a marker of class anxiety. When you’re secure in your position, you don’t need to defend it. Your choices simply are.
The over-explanation reveals that you’re anticipating judgment, which suggests you’re not confident you belong. Upper-class individuals rarely explain their preferences—they state them as facts.
3) Aggressive bargaining in inappropriate contexts
There’s smart negotiation, and then there’s the person haggling over a $30 restaurant bill in front of colleagues.
Research on class behaviors shows that inappropriate bargaining signals financial stress and low social capital. It demonstrates you don’t understand context—when to push and when to let things go.
I’ve watched careers stall because someone couldn’t read the room on when penny-pinching becomes pound-foolish.
Fighting over small amounts in professional settings suggests you can’t afford to lose them.
4) Treating service workers poorly
This one’s a dead giveaway.
Studies on class and behavior consistently show that how someone treats service staff reveals their actual class position, not their aspired one.
True upper-class individuals tend to be polite to everyone—they have nothing to prove.
The person berating a waiter or snapping at retail workers? They’re usually compensating for feeling powerless elsewhere. It’s the social equivalent of kicking down because you can’t punch up.
5) Loudness as a default setting
Volume control is a class marker most people miss.
Sociological research on public behavior shows that excessive loudness—in restaurants, on phones, in conversations—correlates with lower social class. It’s not about accent or vocabulary; it’s about taking up audio space.
Upper-class spaces tend toward quiet. Not silence, but modulation.
The ability to have a conversation without the entire restaurant hearing it signals social awareness and security. You don’t need to dominate the sonic landscape to feel present.
6) Boundary blindness
Some people treat every interaction like they’re entitled to your entire life story.
They ask about salaries on first meetings. They probe about relationships within minutes. They share deeply personal information with strangers.
Sociologists identify this boundary blindness as a class marker because upper-class social interaction operates on layers of revelation. Information is currency, and you don’t dump it all at once.
The inability to recognize or respect boundaries suggests you haven’t been socialized in spaces where discretion matters.
7) Performative busy-ness
“I’m so busy” has become the anthem of status anxiety.
Research on time and class shows something counterintuitive: The highest-status individuals rarely complain about being busy. They have control over their time, so they don’t need to perform exhaustion.
The constant busy performance—answering emails mid-conversation, taking calls during dinner, announcing your packed schedule—signals that you’re not actually in control. You’re responding to demands rather than setting terms.
Real power looks like presence, not frenzy.
8) Zero-sum thinking about success
Someone else’s win is your loss. Their promotion diminishes yours. Their good news requires immediate one-upmanship.
Sociologists identify this scarcity mindset as a clear class marker. When you’ve grown up with limited resources, everything feels competitive.
But upper-class individuals tend to view success as expandable—there’s enough to go around.
The inability to celebrate others’ achievements without making it about yourself reveals deep insecurity about your own position.
9) Instant familiarity with strangers
Using nicknames immediately. Touching people you just met. Assuming intimacy that hasn’t been earned.
This premature familiarity violates upper-class social codes, which maintain formal distance until relationships develop naturally.
The rushed intimacy reads as either boundary issues or social climbing—trying to fast-forward into inner circles.
I learned this the hard way early in my career, thinking friendliness meant immediate casualness. It doesn’t. Respect for social distance paradoxically creates more genuine closeness later.
Final thoughts
Here’s what’s tricky about all this: Many of these behaviors come from genuine enthusiasm, friendliness, or honesty. They’re not inherently bad.
But if you’re trying to navigate professional spaces, build networks, or simply understand why certain rooms feel closed to you, recognizing these patterns matters.
Class isn’t really about money anymore—if it ever was. It’s about behavioral codes that signal belonging. These codes aren’t natural or moral; they’re just patterns that got entrenched over time.
The question isn’t whether you should change everything about yourself to fit in. It’s whether understanding these dynamics helps you move through the world with more awareness.
Sometimes the most powerful thing isn’t learning the rules to follow them. It’s learning them so you can break them intentionally, with full knowledge of what you’re doing and why.
