Measures people by what they earn
At dinner they ask what someone does and work out their salary on the spot. They talk about friends by their house, car or school fees, and lose interest in people who earn less.
Rule out first
Work where pay is the subject, such as recruitment or finance. A family or culture where income is talked about openly. Real curiosity about how people live, without ranking them.
What could explain it
Money status: They believe worth shows in money. Their own spending is for show, and their mood rises and falls with how they compare.
Status motive: Money is one of several ladders: titles, schools and who they know count as much. The ranking is the point, not the cash.
Social comparison: They rank themselves as much as others, and come away feeling behind or ahead. It eats at them more than it amuses them.
Contingent self-worth: Their own worth goes up and down with income, so they read others by the same scale they use on themselves.
Marketing orientation (Fromm): People, including themselves, are products with a price. They talk about what someone is 'worth' in the market sense.
Grandiose narcissism: Ranking by money is one part of a wider need to be on top. People who earn less are treated with contempt, not just less interest.
A next move
Watch how they treat someone who earns less once they find out. Interest fading points to status. Their own mood dropping when someone earns more points to comparison or contingent worth. Contempt points to narcissism.
If it’s you
When I hear what someone earns, what changes in how I see them, and in how I see myself?