Thevaryingdegreesofeasewithwhichdifferenthabitsareformedbydifferentpersons，aswellasthevaryingdegreesofreluctancewithwhichdifferenthabitsaregivenup，goestosaythattheformationofspecifichabitsisnotamatteroflengthofhabituationsimply。Inheritedaptitudesandtraitsoftemperamentcountforquiteasmuchaslengthofhabituationindecidingwhatrangeofhabitswillcometodominateanyindividual’sschemeoflife。Andtheprevalenttypeoftransmittedaptitudes，orinotherwordsthetypeoftemperamentbelongingtothedominantethnicelementinanycommunity，willgofartodecidewhatwillbethescopeandformofexpressionofthecommunity’shabituallifeprocess。Howgreatlythetransmittedidiosyncrasiesofaptitudemaycountinthewayofarapidanddefinitiveformationofhabitinindividualsisillustratedbytheextremefacilitywithwhichanall-dominatinghabitofalcoholismissometimesformed；orinthesimilarfacilityandthesimilarlyinevitableformationofahabitofdevoutobservancesinthecaseofpersonsgiftedwithaspecialaptituDeinthatdirection。Muchthesamemeaningattachestothatpeculiarfacilityofhabituationtoaspecifichumanenvironmentthatiscalledromanticlove。
Mendifferinrespectoftransmittedaptitudes，orinrespectoftherelativefacilitywithwhichtheyunfoldtheirlifeactivityinparticulardirections；andthehabitswhichcoincidewithorproceeduponarelativelystrongspecificaptitudeorarelativelygreatspecificfacilityofexpressionbecomeofgreatconsequencetotheman’swell-being。Thepartplayedbythiselementofaptitudeindeterminingtherelativetenacityoftheseveralhabitswhichconstitutethestandardoflivinggoestoexplaintheextremereluctancewithwhichmengiveupanyhabitualexpenditureinthewayofconspicuousconsumption。Theaptitudesorpropensitiestowhichahabitofthiskindistobereferredasitsgroundarethoseaptitudeswhoseexerciseiscomprisedinemulation；andthepropensityforemulation——forinvidiouscomparison——isofancientgrowthandisapervadingtraitofhumannature。Itiseasilycalledintovigorousactivityinanynewform，anditassertsitselfwithgreatinsistenceunderanyformunderwhichithasoncefoundhabitualexpression。Whentheindividualhasonceformedthehabitofseekingexpressioninagivenlineofhonorificexpenditure——whenagivensetofstimulihavecometobehabituallyrespondedtoinactivityofagivenkindanddirectionundertheguidanceofthesealertanddeep-reachingpropensitiesofemulation——itiswithextremereluctancethatsuchanhabitualexpenditureisgivenup。Andontheotherhand，wheneveranaccessionofpecuniarystrengthputstheindividualinapositiontounfoldhislifeprocessinlargerscopeandwithadditionalreach，theancientpropensitiesoftheracewillassertthemselvesindeterminingthedirectionwhichthenewunfoldingoflifeistotake。Andthosepropensitieswhicharealreadyactivelyinthefieldundersomerelatedformofexpression，whichareaidedbythepointedsuggestionsaffordedbyacurrentaccreditedschemeoflife，andfortheexerciseofwhichthematerialmeansandopportunitiesarereadilyavailable——thesewillespeciallyhavemuchtosayinshapingtheformanddirectioninwhichthenewaccessiontotheindividual’saggregateforcewillassertitself。Thatistosay，inconcreteterms，inanycommunitywhereconspicuousconsumptionisanelementoftheschemeoflife，anincreaseinanindividual’sabilitytopayislikelytotaketheformofanexpenditureforsomeaccreditedlineofconspicuousconsumption。
Withtheexceptionoftheinstinctofself-preservation，thepropensityforemulationisprobablythestrongestandmostalertandpersistentoftheeconomicmotivesproper。Inanindustrialcommunitythispropensityforemulationexpressesitselfinpecuniaryemulation；andthis，sofarasregardstheWesterncivilizedcommunitiesofthepresent，isvirtuallyequivalenttosayingthatitexpressesitselfinsomeformofconspicuouswaste。Theneedofconspicuouswaste，therefore，standsreadytoabsorbanyincreaseinthecommunity’sindustrialefficiencyoroutputofgoods，afterthemostelementaryphysicalwantshavebeenprovidedfor。Wherethisresultdoesnotfollow，undermodernconditions，thereasonforthediscrepancyiscommonlytobesoughtinarateofincreaseintheindividual’swealthtoorapidforthehabitofexpendituretokeepabreastofit；oritmaybethattheindividualinquestiondeferstheconspicuousconsumptionoftheincrementtoalaterdate——ordinarilywithaviewtoheighteningthespectaculareffectoftheaggregateexpenditurecontemplated。Asincreasedindustrialefficiencymakesitpossibletoprocurethemeansoflivelihoodwithlesslabor，theenergiesoftheindustriousmembersofthecommunityarebenttothecompassingofahigherresultinconspicuousexpenditure，ratherthanslackenedtoamorecomfortablepace。
Thestrainisnotlightenedasindustrialefficiencyincreasesandmakesalighterstrainpossible，buttheincrementofoutputisturnedtousetomeetthiswant，whichisindefinitelyexpansible，afterthemannercommonlyimputedineconomictheorytohigherorspiritualwants。ItisowingchieflytothepresenceofthiselementinthestandardoflivingthatJ。S。Millwasabletosaythat“hithertoitisquestionableifallthemechanicalinventionsyetmadehavelightenedtheday’stoilofanyhumanbeing。“Theacceptedstandardofexpenditureinthecommunityorintheclasstowhichapersonbelongslargelydetermineswhathisstandardoflivingwillbe。Itdoesthisdirectlybycommendingitselftohiscommonsenseasrightandgood，throughhishabituallycontemplatingitandassimilatingtheschemeoflifeinwhichitbelongs；butitdoessoalsoindirectlythroughpopularinsistenceonconformitytotheacceptedscaleofexpenditureasamatterofpropriety，underpainofdisesteemandostracism。Toacceptandpracticethestandardoflivingwhichisinvogueisbothagreeableandexpedient，commonlytothepointofbeingindispensabletopersonalcomfortandtosuccessinlife。Thestandardoflivingofanyclass，sofarasconcernstheelementofconspicuouswaste，iscommonlyashighastheearningcapacityoftheclasswillpermit——withaconstanttendencytogohigher。Theeffectupontheseriousactivitiesofmenisthereforetodirectthemwithgreatsinglenessofpurposetothelargestpossibleacquisitionofwealth，andtodiscountenanceworkthatbringsnopecuniarygain。Atthesametimetheeffectonconsumptionistoconcentrateituponthelineswhicharemostpatenttotheobserverswhosegoodopinionissought；whiletheinclinationsandaptitudeswhoseexercisedoesnotinvolveahonorificexpenditureoftimeorsubstancetendtofallintoabeyancethroughdisuse。
Throughthisdiscriminationinfavorofvisibleconsumptionithascomeaboutthatthedomesticlifeofmostclassesisrelativelyshabby，ascomparedwiththe閏latofthatovertportionoftheirlifethatiscarriedonbeforetheeyesofobservers。Asasecondaryconsequenceofthesamediscrimination，peoplehabituallyscreentheirprivatelifefromobservation。Sofarasconcernsthatportionoftheirconsumptionthatmaywithoutblamebecarriedoninsecret，theywithdrawfromallcontactwiththeirneighbors，Hencetheexclusivenessofpeople，asregardstheirdomesticlife，inmostoftheindustriallydevelopedcommunities；andhence，byremoterderivation，thehabitofprivacyandreservethatissolargeafeatureinthecodeofproprietiesofthebetterclassinallcommunities。Thelowbirthrateoftheclassesuponwhomtherequirementsofreputableexpenditurefallwithgreaturgencyislikewisetraceabletotheexigenciesofastandardoflivingbasedonconspicuouswaste。Theconspicuousconsumption，andtheconsequentincreasedexpense，requiredinthereputablemaintenanceofachildisveryconsiderableandactsasapowerfuldeterrent。ItisprobablythemosteffectualoftheMalthusianprudentialchecks。