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Punishing Hubris: The Perils of Overestimating One's Status in a Group

University of California-Berkeley, anderson{at}haas.berkeley.edu

Daniel R. Ames

Columbia University

Samuel D. Gosling

University of Texas-Austin

Individuals engage in status self-enhancement when they form an overly positive perception of their status in a group. We argue that status self-enhancement incurs social costs and, therefore, most individuals perceive their status accurately. In contrast, theories of positive illusions suggest status self-enhancement is beneficial for the individual and that most individuals overestimate their status. We found supportive evidence for our hypotheses in a social relations analysis of laboratory groups, an experiment that manipulated status self-enhancement, and a study of real-world groups. Individuals who engaged in status self-enhancement were liked less by others and paid less for their work. Moreover, individuals tended to perceive their status highly accurately. Mediation analyses showed that status self-enhancers were socially punished because they were seen as disruptive to group processes.

Key Words: status • hierarchy • self-perception • self-enhancement • positive illusions

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