After each confrontation, a lobster’s brain changes—the loser avoids further conflict, whereas the victor gains even higher confidence and serotonin levels. Similar patterns can be found in other animal species—generally, stronger animals get more food, better “homes”, higher status, better mates, and greater cooperation from others. That’s nature’s way of distributing scarce resources.

Likewise, humans have a dominance detector in our brains. How we perceive our social/economic status affects our well-being which reinforces our status in a positive feedback loop.