【"barren eroticism" tantra】

Put away that Rolex,"barren eroticism" tantra because there's a new conspicuous consumption totem on the block.

A June paper from the National Bureau of Economic Researchlooking at, in part, common predictors of wealth, found that owning an iPhone is a strong sign that someone is in fact straight ballin'. Or, at least "high-income."

SEE ALSO: Get ready for the 'largest iPhone ever'

"We measure cultural distance between two groups as the ability to infer an individual's group based on his or her (i) media consumption, (ii) consumer behavior, (iii) time use, or (iv) social attitudes," notes the study abstract.

The paper, by Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica, has some interesting details. For example, while in 1992 using Grey Poupon Dijon was 62.2% indicative of being high income, by 2016 that fanciest of mustards had been replaced by the iPhone.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Specifically, owning an iPhone was 69.1% predictive of being high income.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Knowing whether someone owns an iPad in 2016 allows us to guess correctly whether the person is in the top or bottom income quartile 69 percent of the time," wrote the researchers. "Across all years in our data, no individual brand is as predictive of being high-income as owning an Apple iPhone in 2016."

What a proclivity for spreading Grey Poupon on an iPhone says about your wealth was not addressed by the researchers.

And yeah, iPhones are expensive. A 64 GB iPhone X costs $999. Does that, however, mean everyone who owns an iPhone is rich? Definitely not. Even so, according to Bertrand and Kamenica, it's a pretty good sign.

---

Featured Video For You

---

---

Topics Apple iPhone

• Science
• Tech
• Social Good
• Games
• Entertainment
• Deals
• Digital Culture
• Shopping

• Sri Lanka vs. Australia 2025 livestream: Watch 1st ODI for free
• Drones could deliver a literal ton of stuff to remote villages
• Microsoft accuses Chinese ‘gaming' website of hacking Xbox accounts
• Fixing the 'broken internet' with Amanda Palmer and Patreon
• How to quit social media: This Gen Z
• Katy Perry brings the Taylor Swift feud to Carpool Karaoke because nowhere is safe
• Google is getting a lot more family friendly
• This Bollywood superstar has become the most followed Indian national on Weibo
• Blockchain Explained: How It Works, Who Cares and What Its Future May Hold
• Surprise! Fans are as obsessed with the 'Twin Peaks' revival as the original

• The River Rukarara by Scholastique Mukasonga
• Portrait of the Philosopher as a Young Dog: Kafka’s Philosophical Investigations by Aaron Schuster
• At the Five Hundred Ponies Sale by Alyse Burnside
• At the Webster Apartments: One of Manhattan's Last All
• Anacondas in the Park by Pedro Lemebel
• On Wonder by Srikanth Reddy
• The Art of the Libretto: John Adams by Sophie Haigney
• Alice Notley’s Prophecies by David Schurman Wallace
• Between the World and the Universe, a Woman Is Thinking by Sara Nicholson
• Five Mixed Metaphors for Translation by Daisy Rockwell

• Best free ChatGPT courses
• Two NASA astronauts just completed a last
• Deciding where to post on social media is too damn hard now
• How a university campus is using facial recognition to keep its dorms safe
• How to quit social media: This Gen Z
• Celine Dion dancing to Cher backstage is a freakin' delight
• Katy Perry's album trailer feels like a weird online dating profile
• Surprise! Fans are as obsessed with the 'Twin Peaks' revival as the original
• 11 Tech Products That Were Supposed to Fail... But Didn't
• PayPal files lawsuit against Pandora for mimicking its 'iconic logo'

• Wordle today: The answer and hints for February 13, 2025
• New dating app goes full
• Twitter's shareholders meeting was the same old hatefest — except for two things
• 'Overwatch' introduces dancing emotes and new maps
• Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks 2025 livestream: Watch NBA online
• Woman confronts alt
• 'Nancy' isn't a person, it's a podcast. Oh, and it's super, super gay.
• Several dead after explosion reported at Ariana Grande concert
• Miami Heat vs. Brooklyn Nets 2025 livestream: Watch NBA online
• Drones could deliver a literal ton of stuff to remote villages