Based on a set of qualitative research, the article proposes a comparison of positional experience in Chilean and French societies. Without neglecting the observable differences between social groups within each of the countries studied, the article is primarily concerned with the different national profiles of these experiences. Two models of positional experience are clearly designed by articulating social stratification patterns, nature of positional consistencies, individual behavior and subjective discomfort. © 2012. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales.