Many people believe that a snob is an arrogant person who finds himself superior to others for some reason, takes pride in this, and clearly demonstrates his superiority. Other people usually find his behavior repulsive, since they are unpleasant to see an obvious and unfounded understatement of their own material, intellectual, cultural or other level. The main personal quality of a snob can be called pride and pride, directed towards vanity.

Who is this snob?

A snob is a person prone to narcissism, possessing delusions of grandeur and admiring what, in his opinion, is high and prestigious. He has a tendency to exaggerate the importance of certain things.

A snob very carefully follows the style rules of the circle of people he wants to belong to. At the same time, he sincerely believes that he most subtly and correctly understands all the requirements of characteristic fashion. The behavior styles of snobs boil down to admiration for what the elite value. But objects or works of art are recognized not because of their true value, but because their properties are understood by representatives of the upper class, whom they need to be like.

The snob feels the need to enjoy his own importance. But this is impossible alone, as he feels the need to stand out from others. In addition, people who are weak in spirit are not able to be alone with themselves for a long time.

What is characteristic of a snob's personality?

It is common for a snob to end a relationship with a person who does not act according to the inflated standards he demands. Moreover, if a representative of a high class, to whom a proud person wants to be treated, also makes a similar mistake, then this goes unnoticed. That is, a snob breaks off relations with a good and smart person, if he buys groceries at the market and not in an elite supermarket. But at the same time, if a famous person whom a proud person imitates acts in a similar way, then the hypocrite confirms the correctness of his choice. A snob often exaggerates the importance of the class system in society.

Other people usually don’t even intend to compete with him or prove their superiority, and before he appears, they don’t even realize that something is wrong with them. A snob experiences an intuitive desire to develop a flawed feeling in friends and relatives and to rise at their expense.

How does a snob choose his circle of acquaintances?

At the same time, it cannot be said that a snob is dishonest in his actions, since he actually considers himself better than others. This person believes that his knowledge is special, his manners are refined, his taste is refined, or his origin is more noble than that of other people. A snob does not maintain relationships with acquaintances who do not “meet” his level, and if such people accidentally find themselves in his environment, he breaks off all contacts with them.

For a snob, it is very important to be superior to other people in something, so such a person can first pay attention to what the majority do not have and draw his own conclusions about their inadequacy. After this, he deliberately demonstrates his superiority, creating in the minds of his acquaintances the illusion of the need to possess what he has. Due to the lack of such a criterion in people, the snob secretly indicates (through gestures, facial expressions, actions) their low status. The snob's communication style is to look past the interlocutor, muttering his words through clenched teeth.

What is a snob proud of?

Talent, a large sum of money, connections with high-ranking people, etc. can be a source of pride. There are also the opposite cases, when a snob clearly demonstrates his superiority in the ability to possess something less than his friends, or simply different. By and large, the snob is absolutely indifferent to what the advantage is. His style of communication is to present his views and property as the most correct in any situation.

There are many examples:

1. A laptop is better than a desktop computer.
2. An outdated and simple phone model is preferable to a new and cutting-edge one.
3. A house outside the city is better than an apartment in an elite central region(it happens the other way around).
4. More modern equipment is better than what was purchased even a year ago.
5. Antique products are valued above any other.
6. A small car is better than a big one because it is more maneuverable.
7. An expensive large car is better than a small one, because it is more prestigious, and so on.

Types of snobs

Many people know the preference for high-quality branded items over ordinary consumer goods. But it is not always possible or even the desire to purchase, for example, a leather belt from a prestigious and best brand. A reasonable decision is to purchase a product from a mid-level brand of the same functionality, which is done by a person who is adequate in his actions. And society fully accepts his choice.

But there is a certain type of people who literally worship brands. Usually these individuals have a considerable inferiority complex. They believe that it is better to buy an ordinary, even low-quality item with a label, than to buy a completely natural and decent thing, but without it. Such people increase self-worth in your own eyes, acquiring everything large quantity goods of elite brands.

There is also snobbery, based on an unshakable confidence in superiority in mental qualities or external attractiveness. It happens that this happens at the religious level, since adherents of the correct religion go to Heaven, and everyone else goes to Hell. Or a feeling of superiority arises in relation to people with dark color skin or to residents of third world countries. Such a person and society do not have a harmonious relationship, because the person experiences an internal protest in front of his origin.

Snobbery in art is manifested in the statement that an outsider is not capable of evaluating a real work. As if this is it common sense, but in fact, a real creator creates something at the behest of an inner voice. But a connoisseur or an intelligent person interested in art can see something for himself in a work, feel it, without having any specific knowledge.

History of origin

The concept of “snob” originated in England and meant a person in the profession of “small shoemaker.” Then this word began to be used to describe individuals who wanted to join high society and ingratiate themselves with aristocrats. At that time, the hypocrite did not have the appropriate taste in clothes, which was very noticeable. But gradually this quality disappeared, since a modern snob is a person who looks fashionable and stylish.

The “English snob” type appeared in Great Britain in the Victorian era as a consequence of the emergence of the commercial aristocracy - a new social class. Its representatives are not characterized by noble origin, but by significance in the political and economic spheres. At that time, aristocrats and landowners had significant influence, but the new class strived in every possible way to acquire the corresponding status.

Is a snob just an upstart?

A snob cannot be called an ordinary upstart simply because he takes great care to keep all information about his lowly origins secret. Moreover, only a snob can think so, since all his acquaintances do not at all believe that any problem requiring concealment is associated with their social status.

This is also evidenced by his belief in his uniqueness and belief in the right to occupy a high position. But famous people by and large, they do not interest him as individuals, since he only needs from them to belong to a high class.

For example, a careerist may try to communicate with rich and successful people in order to learn from them and gain experience, establish relationships that may help them move up the career ladder, and make new acquaintances. But a snob believes that he already belongs to noble people, so he should communicate only with them. It’s as if he’s playing a role in a theater, creating the scenery for himself.

Snob-intellectual, cultural and musical proud

There is such a variety as the intellectual snob, which appeared in the 20th century. This is also typical for modern British society. The basis of such snobbery is special mental abilities and wonderful refined taste. A person who understands wine (considers himself to be so) is considered a type of intellectual snobbery. He believes that his knowledge and taste are special.

There is also a cultural snob. This is a person who understands culture, literature, art, has an encyclopedic mind, and visits art galleries.

A music snob is a proud person who is deeply passionate about music and knows a lot about it. He buys CDs in large quantities, attends concerts, tracks the latest trends, understands musical trends, is always aware of the release of new albums and looks forward to them. Such a person is the most harmless of all types of snobs. His interlocutors for hours-long conversations about reviews, compositions and other things are mainly on the Internet. In fact, it cannot be said that a snob is a fully intelligent person, since he only creates the appearance of such.

Fashionable, office and snobby bourgeois

There are snobs who have significant material wealth, which allows them to acquire things that are inaccessible to many. Bourgeois snobs buy exclusive goods only for the prestige of owning them.

A fashion snob is a person who is interested in fashionable and expensive clothes from famous brands. Such people disapprove of the owners of simple and inexpensive things.

A person occupying intermediate management positions (deputy chief, department head) may be defined as an office snob. The meaning of this concept is admiration for management and arrogant attitude towards lower-ranking colleagues.

The British themselves are considered an arrogant nation, so they are often accused of snobbery due to excessive self-confidence. Modern British society is characterized by the manifestation of snobbery in any social class in relation to representatives of the lower class.

07/02/2018 17,546 1 Igor

Psychology and Society

The word "snobbery" is quite rarely found in oral speech as opposed to the phenomenon that designates it. Modern society literally riddled with arrogant people who consider themselves superior to others. This is one of the manifestations of snobbery. Let's figure out what it means in simple words and whether it is good or bad to be a snob.

Content:

What is snobbery?

Any society is characterized by stratification - people belonging to higher and lower strata.

Snobbery- this is a phenomenon associated with the intentions and desires of those who belong to the lower strata of society to present themselves as representatives of the higher circles, the noble classes. It is impossible to understand the meaning of this word without considering the concept of “snob”, which exists in many languages ​​of the world.

Snob- this is a person, a subject who has a desire to get into the upper world by any means and ways. Snobbery is the behavior and way of thinking characteristic of a snob, his worldview. It manifests itself as follows:

• in a person’s deliberate demonstration of his significance, importance and uniqueness;
• in an emphasized expression of manners characteristic of people from high society;
• in false and artificial sophistication, manifested in: manner of dressing, behavior at the table, etiquette, communication culture, etc.;
• in ranking all people as belonging to higher and lower strata and in failing to communicate with everyone equally;
• it is a person’s habit to always teach others, give advice, criticize them and consider their point of view the only correct one;
• in admiration for people from high society and careful imitation of their mannered behavior, way of life, habits and preferences, in a selective attitude towards people: disdain for those who occupy a lower position in society, and ingratiation with those into whose social circle one wants to enter;
• in an effort to be known as a person with a high level of intellectual development or authority in any field of human knowledge;
• highly dependent on the opinions of others;
• in the arrogance of a person based on the fact that he belongs to a special clan or group;
• in the snob’s confidence that everyone should respect, love and appreciate him.

There are several optionsorigin of this word:

1. In the 80s of the 18th century, a shoemaker or his apprentice was called a snob. This concept denoted a commoner who sought to adopt aristocratic manners.
2. The word "snob" dates back to an earlier period and comes from the Latin abbreviation "s.nob." (from Latin " sine nobilitate" - ignoble origin). Students who studied at Oxford and Cambridge universities and were of non-noble origin were called snobs. They were marked in the lists with this abbreviation, which meant that they were prohibited from attending receptions, meetings, and holidays at which the king was supposed to be present. These students were much richer than the nobles, therefore, imitating them, they sought to make up for the lack of noble upbringing and secular manners with feigned and complete bad taste luxury. This behavior later came to be called snobbery.
3. According to the popular point of view, snobs in the slang language were students of ignoble blood at Eton University in the years 1810-1820 of the 19th century, who were contrasted with students of noble birth (from the English “noble” - nobleman).

In the modern sense, the word “snobbery” has been used in vocabulary since the beginning of the twentieth century.

Causes and signs of snobbery

Snobbery is not an innate personality trait. His the appearance is caused by various reasons:

• parental attitudes and family values, among which snobbery played an important role;
• the desire to escape from the outback, the province and become a city dweller;
• the impact on a person of a work collective that is imbued with snobbish views;
• manifestations of selfish character traits, when a person fundamentally ignores the needs and emotions of others;
• limited and inflexible thinking and outlook, which leads to the formation of narrow views and attaching importance and value to a certain manner of behavior and character traits;
• very low self-esteem and a person’s attempts to unnaturally increase his status in the eyes of the public, humiliating and offending others.

Signs of snobbery:

• unreasonable ambition, arrogance and arrogance of a snob, repelling other people from him and causing discontent;
• a person’s point of view about his own exclusivity and the belief that he deserves more respect compared to all other people;
• exalting oneself over others;
• lack of sympathy and empathy for the problems of others;
• disdainful attitude towards those who do not correspond to the ideas and level of intellectual development of the snob;
  playing to the public, demonstrative sophistication;
• unshakable conviction of one's own rightness;
• identifying oneself as a member of the elite, the elite, the upper class, a special clan;
• unequal treatment of people of different positions in society;
• violation of decency, bad taste, tactless and inappropriate behavior in society.

Types of snobbery depend on the sphere of human life in which it develops:

• Aesthetic;
• Intellectual;
• Professional;
• Snobbery of the elite, the rich, people of special status in society.

Is being a snob good or bad?

The word “snobbery” has had a negative connotation since its first use. Snobs have many negative human character traits. Society generally believes that being a snob is bad and ugly. After all, they very often behave inappropriately. Simplicity and sincerity of human communication, both with superiors and subordinates, is not typical and unnatural for them. They always divide people in their close circle into those worthy and unworthy of their attention. The only nuance associated with the use of the word “snobbery” recently is that it is given some sarcasm, a small amount of irony. There are many people in modern world who joyfully and especially proudly call themselves snobs.

Psychological science considers a snob as a person whose visual vector predominates. They are aesthetes, subtle connoisseurs of everything beautiful, surrounding themselves with beautiful objects and lovely interlocutors. They know how to see the beauty of the world around them and are regular visitors to museums, various exhibitions, beauty contests, theaters and art galleries. They are disgusted by various forms manifestations of ignorance, the fruits of low-grade creativity and informal trends in art. This is dignity positive trait snobbery and leads to unfavorable consequences.

Every snob considers himself to be special, priority social stratum, the cream of society. Considering themselves to be among the elite, the highest rank, snobs do not consider all those who go beyond this circle, trying to humiliate and prove their wretchedness and inconsistency. They call other people second-class, unworthy of respect and worthless. They fiercely condemn and reject everything new, non-standard, unusual, contrary to their usual view. They convince everyone that only classics in culture and customs that have been established over centuries can be worthy of the attention of a modern, cultured and educated person. Despite the fact that their personal intellectual knowledge in the field of cultural studies is very negligible. A snob is a rather pretentious type of person, but with very pitiful inner potential and energy.

Rules for dealing with a snob:

1. When meeting a person who is dismissive of you, trying to humiliate or insult you, try not to enter into conflict or communicate with him. He will not accept an explanation for his wrongness, and if you turn your attention to him, it will lead you to mental distress and devastation, which is not a reasonable decision in this situation.
2. Try to perceive it with a little humor, as temporary unpleasant weather conditions.
3. Dignity and adequate behavior are your main weapons in a fight with a snob.
4. Never stoop to insults or the level of your opponent.

Are a snob and a prude the same thing?

These are two words with absolutely different meaning. Their only similarity is that both are disdainful of others and exalt themselves above others.

The distinctive features of these two concepts are presented in the table.

IN important! Snobs present themselves as more highly educated, intelligent and cultured people. In the professional sphere of activity, snobbery often manifests itself through star fever. The emergence of falsehood, delusions of grandeur, boasting, pomposity, arrogance and conviction of one's superiority are the main reasons underlying the effect of snobbery.

Today you don't often hear someone called a snob. Rather, this term is used in the literature. Snobbery - what does it mean? Surely each of us has met a person who seems to boast of his “not like everyone else” position. He treats with arrogance people who speak differently than him, read other books, listen to other music, etc. We call such a person a snob and feel some kind of falseness in his behavior, as if he was putting on the mask of an intellectual and aristocrat . What are the main characteristics of such a person?

Characteristics of a Snob

Snobbery - what kind of “beast” is this? The main category that a snob operates on is high society. Such a person simply dreams of the thought of belonging to him and does everything to get closer to him. people like this. A snob imitates the manners, habits, and tastes that, in his opinion, are characteristic of the elite. Although such a person does not himself belong to representatives of high society, he treats “mere mortals” mercilessly.

The meaning of the word “snobbery” has a mainly negative connotation in connection with a person’s arrogant attitude towards others who are not like him. The lower class, in the opinion of the snob, does not reach his level intellectually. Here it is necessary to remember who was originally called that. The first meaning is literally "shoemaker's apprentice", then it expanded to "commoner". Further, the concept of “snob” began to be associated with a commoner who imitates aristocrats in his behavior. Thus, the term itself characterizes a snob as a person who wants to get closer to the higher society, who hates his origin and in every possible way despises any manifestations of it.

Psychological aspects of snobbery

Why is snobbery so remarkable? What kind of phenomenon is this in the modern world? Although this concept and is not widely used in ordinary speech, snobs themselves are quite common. They claim a certain exclusivity in everything they do. But there are people with the same interests and hobbies as a snob, but unlike the latter, they do not boast of their passions. The fact is that snobbery is an ostentatious phenomenon. Such a person strives with all his might to show his exclusivity. He denies himself and tries to imitate some ideal. Deep dissatisfaction with one's position and even become causes of snobbery.

Snobbery - what is it in terms of benefits and harms?

At first glance, this phenomenon only has negative sides. A snob exudes contempt for people who are unlike him, while he himself is not anything remarkable. However, the benefits and harms of snobbery in society cannot be judged one-sidedly. Firstly, the phenomenon characterizes society as class-divided. This means that there is a gap between the so-called higher and lower society. After all, snobbery is nothing more than a sophisticated form of envy. Secondly, snobs (whatever the motives underlying their behavior) strive to demonstrate intelligence and aristocracy. And this maintains to some extent the cultural level of society.

Snobbery ♦ Snobisme The desire to follow the example of the elite (or what is accepted as the elite) due to the lack of opportunity to belong to it. The snob imitates exclusivity, which he does not and cannot possess. He doesn't so much strive to become... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary

Showing off, showing off, mannerisms Dictionary of Russian synonyms. snobbery noun, number of synonyms: 4 showing off (14) ... Synonym dictionary

SNOBISM, huh, husband. (book). Views, behavior, manners inherent in a snob. | adj. snobbish, oh, oh. Dictionary Ozhegova. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

See Ambition (Source: “Aphorisms from around the world. Encyclopedia of Wisdom.” www.foxdesign.ru) ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

- (from the English snob, a person with a claim) English. snobbery; German Snobismus. Imitation of tastes, manners, behavior of the so-called. high society; an individual's claim to belong to higher social groups. layers. Antinazi. Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2009 ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

snobbery- a, m. snobbisme m. , English snobbism. Behavior, manners, way of thinking inherent in a person who claims to have exquisitely refined taste. But they academicians were dealt a mortal blow by the author Daudet, and not even the academy, as a national one... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Manners, behavior, views inherent in a snob. New dictionary foreign words. by EdwART, 2009. snobbery [Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Snobbery- unfounded claims of a person to an exquisitely refined taste; refined manners along with a disdainful attitude towards those who, in the opinion of a snob (as a person who shows snobbery is called), does not possess all this. Snobbery is also excessive... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Snobbery- (English – upstart) – a negative moral and ethical quality of a person, manifested in imitation of the tastes of a certain “high society”, passion for fashion, blind copying of tastes and habits accepted as the standard, in admiration for all this,... ... Fundamentals of spiritual culture ( encyclopedic Dictionary teacher)

snobbery- SNOBISM, a, m Behavior, views, manners inherent in a person who considers himself a bearer of the highest intelligence and refined tastes, who treats other people with arrogance and disdain. I, too, I say, like imported cigarettes... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns

Books

• Town, Charlotte Bronte. The novel “The Town” by the famous English writer S. Bronte is a story of the struggle between two worldviews, two different approaches to life. On the one hand, there are negative characters who embody...
• The Book of Snobs, W. M. Thackeray. Moscow, 1959. Foreign Languages ​​Publishing House. Publisher's binding. The condition is good. The concept of "snob" was invented English writer William Thackeray. "The Book of Snobs" became the first...