Braun and Wicklund suggest that there is a "compensatory relation between person's security" and certain kinds of conspicuous consumption, but that these relations cannot exist without individuals' perceived "incompleteness [of]" and "commitment to the identity in question."[3] Thus, much of what is colloquially referred to as the “mid-life crisis” can be explained by the theory of symbolic self-completion. A classic example of the mid-life crisis is a 40-year old man buying a red sports car. The man is unsure as to whether he has made the right choices in his life and if he has been leading a successful career. The man then counters his insecurity by purchasing a material object that functions as a status symbol, something that both he and others will recognize as a mark of success.