I think many people have a 'I'm better off than you' attitude though most manage to hide it well under a veneer of sociability/good nature.
It's bags and cars in the US - in my home country it's gold jewellery that's the status symbol. So there are women you meet at social functions or in general who wear loads and loads of gold jewellery and look like they belong in Fort Knox (and you've got to wear it all at the same time, too!). This comes from the tradition that at the wedding the groom presents the bride with the most expensive necklace he can buy, so the bigger your necklace, the more well off your husband! These women cast pitying glances at those who turn up wearing a simple chain, and anybody who wears costume jewellery is an absolute pariah.
Funny how cultures change but attitudes don't!