Opponent choices of below average performers

Gastorf, John W.; Suls, Jerry; Lawhon, John

doi:10.3758/bf03329675

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Our implicit rank is recalibrated following unexpected outcomes of social comparisons against others (Ligneul et al, 2016). Consistently, we tend to avoid confrontations with superiors without a reasonable probability of success (Gastorf et al, 1978) and prefer same-level comparisons, which give a better chance of increasing our status while remaining reasonably safe (Festinger, 1954). Individuals, as well as firms, political parties, and sports teams act more competitively when facing similarly-ranked counterparts than stronger ones (Dakin & Arrowood, 1981;Hoffman et al, 1954;Kilduff et al, 2010;White & Langer, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: a behavioral study

Szücs¹,

Szántó²,

Adalbert³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Humans seek admiration to boost their social rank and engage in rivalry to protect it when fearing defeat. These social behaviors are shaped by traits and affective states, such as narcissism and depression, that influence perception of status and motivation for dominance. Narcissistic traits and depressive states are thought to prompt opposite coping mechanisms: highly narcissistic persons are compelled to protect and enhance their social rank at any cost, whereas depressed individuals may accept their inferior position to avoid further damage. Experimental data supporting these theories are however lacking. We investigated the effects of dimensionally-assessed narcissism, trait dominance and depression in a rigged video game tournament, designed to elicit rivalry (stealing points from opponents) and admiration-seeking (paying for rank). The experiment was performed by an undergraduate sample (N = 70, mean age = 21.5 years) and a clinical sample of predominantly depressed elderly (N = 85, mean age = 62.6 years). Both rivalry and admiration-seeking increased with time and were particularly enhanced in individuals high in trait dominance or narcissism. Additionally, participants engaged in more rivalry against high-ranked opponents and this tendency was accentuated by trait dominance but suppressed by depression. Our findings suggest that narcissism and social dominance manifest in increased rivalry and admiration-seeking during social contests. Depression does not generally suppress competitiveness but selectively inhibits upward-focused rivalry.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: a behavioral study

Szücs¹,

Szántó²,

Adalbert³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…People's general upward directedness is a phenomenon known and documented in relation to other theoretical frameworks such as social comparison theory (cf. Festinger, 1954;Gastorf, Suls and Lawhon, 1978;Thornton and Arrowood, 1966;Wheeler, 1966). In social comparison research 'protective' downward comparison is only observed when there is a serious threat to subjects' self-esteem (cf.…”

Section: Discussion Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social identification and permeability of group boundaries

Ellemers

Knippenberg

Vries

et al. 1988

Euro J Social Psych

280

223

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EXPERIMENT 1The basic assumption of social identity theory (as developed by Tajfel, 1974Tajfel, , 1975Tajfel, , 1978Tajfel and Turner, 1979;Turner, 1975) is that people strive to achieve a positively valued social identity. Already in the earliest formulations of the theory the permeability of group boundaries (i.e. the possibility for individual mobility across groups) is described as a crucial variable in determining which strategy will be chosen to enhance one's social identity. Despite the theoretical importance of the concept, empirical 0046-27721

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“…the hierarchical rank manifested through our behavior, is recalibrated following unexpected outcomes of social comparisons against others [ 4 ]. Consistently, we tend to avoid confrontations with superiors without a reasonable probability of success [ 5 ] and prefer same-level comparisons, which give a better chance of increasing our status while remaining reasonably safe [ 6 ]. Individuals, as well as firms, political parties, and sports teams act more competitively when facing similarly-ranked counterparts than stronger ones [ 7 – 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: A behavioral study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Humans seek admiration to boost their social rank and engage in rivalry to protect it when fearing defeat. Traits such as narcissism and affective states such as depression are thought to influence perception of rank and motivation for dominance in opposite ways, but evidence of the underlying behavioral mechanisms is scant. We investigated the effects of dimensionally-assessed narcissism and depression on behavioral responses to social defeat in a rigged video game tournament designed to elicit rivalry (stealing points from opponents) and admiration-seeking (paying for rank). We tested an undergraduate sample (N = 70, mean age = 21.5 years) and a clinical sample of predominantly depressed elderly (N = 85, mean age = 62.6 years). Both rivalry and admiration-seeking increased with time on task and were particularly enhanced in individuals high in narcissism. Participants engaged in more rivalry when pitted against high-ranked opponents, but depression partially mitigated this tendency. Our findings provide behavioral evidence that narcissism manifests in increased rivalry and admiration-seeking during social contests. Depression does not suppress general competitiveness but selectively inhibits upward-focused rivalry.

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Opponent choices of below average performers

Abstract: who aided in the collection of the data.

Cited by 10 publications

References 3 publications

Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: a behavioral study

Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: a behavioral study

Social identification and permeability of group boundaries

Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: A behavioral study

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