Keith Johnstone (pioneered improv theater) makes a pretty convincing argument in his book Impro that status is the most important thing to humans (and that much of our interactions involve status). It's the invisible fabric of our life in society that we aren't supposed to talk about.

Also, plenty of psychological research has shown that status is usually valued more than money in one's job, where status encompasses things like "my boss tells me I'm doing a good job" (which means more coming from your boss or the VP than the intern) or "my team appreciates the work I do".