People do things because they want to be loved - either by a specific someone or the world. When it comes to looking for love from the world we can call this status. Status is reassurance that we are loved that we have a rank a nobility.
In feudal times there was no status anxiety because everyone was born into a class and lived in that. Men did whatever work their father's did. The poor were respected because they did all the real work while the nobility and clergy played.
This all changed with the industrial revolution. Expectations rose, life stations was determined by merit, the rich were seen as creators of expanding wealth. The poor were seen as lazy or morally at fault because. Those without nobility were the worse perpetrators of snobbery because they had to created other ways to demonstrate rank. Snob comes from the Latin: Sine Nobiliese - without nobility.
In 1800 20% of Americans worked for some one else by 1900 it was 50% now it is 90% - we are dependent on our employers. Our employer is dependent on the global economy. We work for larger organization where advancement is often about politics as merit. We have a lot to be worried about with out looking at popular magazines or now social media telling us what is cool.
Alian de Botton does a great job diagnosing the causes for our anxiety.
His cures for however leave me still anxious. His cures are philosophy, art, politics, religion and bohemianism. The politics and religion create their own anxieties. Putting up and taking down confederate war memorials is the most recent example of pure politics - the memorials have no economic or social benefit and generate more anxiety. Bohemianism, Art, Politics have their status systems - many of the people I met in those fields are the most status obsessed. I do get him about how to apply logic from philosophy and art's challenge to traditional ideas can salve our anxiety. The other three try to do this but they just don't do it effectively from my perspective.