Mahadevan, Nikhila and Gregg, Aiden P and Sedikides, Constantine (2019) Is self-regard a sociometer or a hierometer? Self-esteem tracks status and inclusion, narcissism tracks status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116 (3). pp. 444-466. DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000189
Mahadevan, Nikhila and Gregg, Aiden P and Sedikides, Constantine (2019) Is self-regard a sociometer or a hierometer? Self-esteem tracks status and inclusion, narcissism tracks status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116 (3). pp. 444-466. DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000189
Mahadevan, Nikhila and Gregg, Aiden P and Sedikides, Constantine (2019) Is self-regard a sociometer or a hierometer? Self-esteem tracks status and inclusion, narcissism tracks status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116 (3). pp. 444-466. DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000189
Abstract
What adaptive function does self-regard serve? Sociometer theory predicts that it positively tracks social inclusion. A new theory, hierometer theory, predicts that it positively tracks social status. We tested both predictions with respect to two types of self-regard: self-esteem and narcissism. Study 1 (N = 940), featuring a cross-sectional design, found that both status and inclusion covaried positively with self-esteem, but that status alone covaried positively with narcissism. These links held independently of gender, age, and the Big Five personality traits. Study 2 (N = 627), a preregistered cross-sectional study, obtained similar results with alternative measures of self-esteem and narcissism. Studies 3–4 featured experimental designs in which status and inclusion were orthogonally manipulated. Study 3 (N = 104) found that both higher status and higher inclusion promoted higher self-esteem, whereas only higher status promoted higher narcissism. Study 4 (N = 259) obtained similar results with alternative measures of self-esteem and narcissism. The findings suggest that self-esteem operates as both sociometer and hierometer, positively tracking both status and inclusion, whereas narcissism operates primarily as a hierometer, positively tracking status.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | social status; social inclusion; self-esteem; narcissism; hierometer theory |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Psychology, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 26 May 2020 07:45 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 17:09 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/27608 |
Available files
Filename: Mahadevan_Gregg_Sedikides_2018_JPSP.pdf