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Is this like how middle management reportedly wouldn't be caught dead dressing like the janitor, but super rich people supposedly dress like the janitor in order to not look like middle management?

This sounds like Scott Alexander's "Fashion explained with cellular automata" article, which was neat but probably not what OP was referring to and certainly not related to TFA in any way I can see. Still a good read tho.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/22/right-is-the-new-left/

The term for that is countersignalling. https://www.marketingsociety.com/the-library/counter-signall...

I would much rather be a chimpanzee than a wolf or a lion.

Well then, good news for you.

https://www.science.org/content/article/bonobos-join-chimps-...

...or, it's just a solid case of confirmation bias.