The Ups and Downs of Social Life: Within-Person Variations in Daily Status and Inclusion Differentially Predict Self-Regard and Interpersonal Behavior

Objective: Grounded in sociometer theory and hierometer theory, the current research examined, for the first time, how within-person fluctuations in people’s status and inclusion relate to their self-regard and interpersonal behavior. Method: We conducted a 10-day diary study and analyzed the data using multilevel modeling. Participants (N=415) completed daily measures of their status, inclusion, self-esteem, narcissism, assertiveness, and affiliativeness. Results: On days when both their status and inclusion were higher, participants reported higher self-esteem, but only on days when their status was higher did they report higher narcissism. Furthermore, on days when their self-esteem was higher, participants behaved more assertively and more affiliatively, but only on days when their narcissism was higher, did they behave more assertively. These patterns persisted after controlling for baseline individual differences in all constructs. Self-esteem, moreover, mediated the links between daily status and assertiveness, and between daily inclusion and affiliativeness; narcissism, in contrast, mediated the link between daily status and assertiveness only. Conclusions: This research replicates at the within-person level empirical links previously found at the between-person level. The results suggest that narcissism operates chiefly as a hierometer (tracking status and regulating assertiveness), whereas self-esteem additionally operates as a sociometer (also tracking inclusion and regulating affiliativeness).