Individuals consistently conceal relatively high status identities to preserve social harmony

From Sacrificing status for social harmony: Concealing relatively high status identities from one’s peers by Rachel D. Arnett and Jim Sidanius.  From the Abstract.

Given strong human desires to be respected and understood, we demonstrate a surprising tendency: individuals consistently conceal relatively high status identities (sacrificing status and authenticity) to preserve social harmony. We experimentally demonstrated that, contrary to third-party observers’ expectations (Study 1), individuals were more likely to conceal relatively high status identities, compared to similar status identities, from their peers (Studies 1–5). Concealment was an effort to mitigate interpersonal threats (to the self, others, and belonging; Study 3) and continued even when individuals could not be held responsible for disclosure (Study 4). We found modest evidence that relative status still impacted concealment in settings encouraging status hierarchy (Study 5). Thus, individuals have a persistent discomfort with elevating their status above others. We conclude by considering the promising implications of identifying conditions that encourage high status individuals to prioritize social harmony, as well as caveats regarding how identity concealment may inadvertently reinforce inequality.

That has generally been my experience in most places in the US and many Anglophone cultures around the world.  It is delightful where it occurs.  I would be interested to see a study identifying where this trait doe not prevail.  In my experience, it is most likely to absent in certain urban locations such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and some others, particularly among those in certain industries such as Finance, Media/Entertainment, Tech, and Academia to a lesser extent.  Cities and industries noted for competition.