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Why self-enhancement provokes dislike: The hubris hypothesis and the aversiveness of explicit self-superiority claims

Why self-enhancement provokes dislike: The hubris hypothesis and the aversiveness of explicit self-superiority claims
Why self-enhancement provokes dislike: The hubris hypothesis and the aversiveness of explicit self-superiority claims
Most people believe that they are in many respects superior to others. When they publicly express their superiority, they may do so in an explicitly or implicitly comparative manner (“I am better than others” vs. “I am good”). According to the hubris hypothesis, observers dislike explicit self-superiority claims, because these suggest a negative view of others and hence of the observers. The results of two experiments were consistent with the hubris hypothesis. Participants evaluated explicit self-superiority claimants more unfavorably than implicit self-superiority claimants (Experiments 1–2). They attributed less warmth, but not less competence, to explicit than implicit self-superiority claimants (Experiment 2), and this occurred to the extent that participants inferred a negative view of others (Experiments 1–2) and hence of them (Experiment 2).
self-enhancement, superiority, self-presentation, social comparison, hubris hypothesis
1529-8868
173-190
Van Damme, C.
fd33de7e-fe59-4f87-85c2-d90f0d8b3ad7
Hoorens, V.
0701b98b-02ef-4453-8cdf-ffb1e0c9117b
Sedikides, C.
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Van Damme, C.
fd33de7e-fe59-4f87-85c2-d90f0d8b3ad7
Hoorens, V.
0701b98b-02ef-4453-8cdf-ffb1e0c9117b
Sedikides, C.
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2

Van Damme, C., Hoorens, V. and Sedikides, C. (2016) Why self-enhancement provokes dislike: The hubris hypothesis and the aversiveness of explicit self-superiority claims. Self and Identity, 15 (2), 173-190. (doi:10.1080/15298868.2015.1095232).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Most people believe that they are in many respects superior to others. When they publicly express their superiority, they may do so in an explicitly or implicitly comparative manner (“I am better than others” vs. “I am good”). According to the hubris hypothesis, observers dislike explicit self-superiority claims, because these suggest a negative view of others and hence of the observers. The results of two experiments were consistent with the hubris hypothesis. Participants evaluated explicit self-superiority claimants more unfavorably than implicit self-superiority claimants (Experiments 1–2). They attributed less warmth, but not less competence, to explicit than implicit self-superiority claimants (Experiment 2), and this occurred to the extent that participants inferred a negative view of others (Experiments 1–2) and hence of them (Experiment 2).

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Accepted/In Press date: 14 September 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 November 2015
Published date: February 2016
Keywords: self-enhancement, superiority, self-presentation, social comparison, hubris hypothesis

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 388225
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/388225
ISSN: 1529-8868
PURE UUID: 5ad151b4-1668-4c8a-af29-e84cc52b2ebc
ORCID for C. Sedikides: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X

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Date deposited: 22 Feb 2016 16:42
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:02

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Contributors

Author: C. Van Damme
Author: V. Hoorens
Author: C. Sedikides ORCID iD

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