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Symbolic ideal

As explained in Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions

A symbolic ideal is a culturally and contextually shaped mental image of traits associated with dominance, strength, or high status.

A symbolic ideal is a culturally and contextually shaped mental image of traits associated with dominance, strength, or high status. It changes across cultures, social hierarchies, and time. When people associate someone with more such traits, they may unconsciously grant that person greater symbolic power and reinforce existing rankings. section 6.1.3

Boardroom expectations

The historical assumption that men were better suited to boardroom work illustrates how a culture can associate gender with authority, rank women lower in that context, and normalize the resulting hierarchy. section 6.1.3

How Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions covers it

How deep it goes
Defines the concept, explains its cultural variability, and connects it to internalized hierarchy without providing a formal procedure.
Examples
Uses changing associations between wealth and body size and gendered boardroom authority as examples.
What you can do after
Evaluate how cultural assumptions attach status to traits and shape perceived authority in specific social contexts.
How it connects
Connects symbolic power with implicit ranking, explicit ranking, social hierarchy, habitus, and symbolic violence.
Cover of Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions
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Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.