Pride- Treasure or Misfortune!

DEFINITION: Proper self-respect arising from a significant achievement, possession of an item, or involvement in a relationship

The pride expression

One of the difficulties with studying pride has been a lack of good measurements. Recently, psychologists have made strides in identifying the pride expression-an important first step because the field of emotion research has taken an expression-focused approach since the 1960s when psychologists, identified universal facial expressions for the six primary emotions: happiness, surprise, sadness, fear, anger and disgust. Emotions without their own unique facial expression have been largely dismissed as facets of these five primary emotions.

In particular, researchers have argued that emotions such as pride, shame, guilt and embarrassment-known as the self-conscious emotions because they require social awareness-are culturally derived as opposed to the primary emotions, which seem to be hard-wired. Although some psychologists have not found a smile unique to pride, they have found what she thinks is a pride expression that includes the "happy" smile and a unique posture: The head tilts back, the chest puffs out and the hands rest on the hips or raise in the air. It's an expression that emotion researcher Michael Lewis, described in children who felt successful after finishing a task they'd been told was difficult to complete.

In a series of studies published in Psychological Science (Vol. 15, No. 3) and Emotion (Vol. 5, No. 3), Tracy and Robins show that people reliably label photos of this expression as pride and pick out the expression from among photos of other positive emotion expressions, such as happiness. Newer studies submitted for publication find that even children as young as four and people from an isolated, tribal culture in Burkina Faso, Africa, label the pride expression correctly just as often as they correctly identified the primary emotions such as surprise and sadness.These findings are strong evidence that pride is universally recognized and likely evolved for some social purpose, such as maintaining an individual's status, says Tracy."The big issue here is, is it universal or is it culturally prescribed?" says Tangney.

Tracy's work suggests that pride is the same across cultures, suggesting that it's part of humans' emotional equipment. Does that mean it's a "basic" emotion the way happiness or anger are? That depends on what criteria you use, she says. Lewis argues that all the self-conscious emotions are basic. The biggest distinction between "primary" emotions, that are present in infancy and that have a hard-wired, universal facial expression and the self-conscious emotions that begin to develop at around 18 months, are that the latter require what he calls a "meta-representation" of the self.

A double-edged sword

The problem with these self-conscious emotions is that they're messy and difficult to study, says Lewis. In particular, they're difficult to elicit in people using standard techniques because one experience will draw out pride or guilt or embarrassment in some people but not others.

Both Lewis and Tangney independently developed theories describing two facets of pride-one productive and positive and the other linked to narcissism and the difficulties associated with it. They argue that people who experience the first type credit their behavior for a success while people who experience the second type credit themselves. It's the difference between saying "I played well because I practiced"and saying "I always play well because I'm great," says Lewis. The productive study of pride hinges on distinguishing the two, say the researchers.

Tracy has added weight to these proposals with some of the first empirical tests of the theory. In a series of studies submitted for publication, Tracy and her colleagues asked study participants to cluster pride-related words into groups. As expected, two distinct and relatively independent factors appeared. The "I played well" facet that Tracy calls achievement-oriented pride was associated with adaptive personality traits-measured with the Big Five Inventory-during pride experiences. The "I'm great" facet, which Tracy calls hubristic pride, was associated with negative personality traits." It looked like what you'd think of when you think of cocky and egotistical," says Tracy. Interestingly, both types of pride seem to share the same expression, implying that they're facets of the same emotion rather than two distinct emotions, says Tracy.

So how could these self-conscious emotions, particularly the seemingly destructive one, fit into an evolutionary framework? It could be the case that achievement-oriented pride promotes a person's social status through long-term relationship-building while hubristic pride promotes status quickly by obtaining the admiration, if not the liking, of others.

In the words of Lewis: "Pride is good and hubris is sometimes necessary to get us through. Sometimes it's good to feel good about yourself. But, like anything when there's too much or too little, there's pathology on both ends."

PHYSICAL SIGNALS AND BEHAVIORS:

  • A high chin

  • Shoulders back

  • Chest thrust out

  • Standing tall with good posture, legs spread wide

  • A gleam in one's eye

  • A knowing grin

  • Perfectionism

  • Watching others to see their reactions

  • Verbalizing the ups and downs that led to this point

  • Calling friends and loved ones to tell them about an accomplishment

  • Direct or intense eye contact

  • A booming laugh

  • Becoming talkative

  • Lifting the heels and rising up slightly to emphasize words

  • Steering or dominating the conversation

  • Becoming extra animated when there's an audience

  • A grin that conveys secret knowledge

  • Thrusting oneself into the middle of an event or debate

  • A satisfied smile

  • Hooking thumbs into one's belt loops, thrusting the pelvis forward

  • Pulling in a deep breath

  • False modesty Ignoring or overlooking any flaws associated with the pride item

  • A preoccupation with one's appearance

  • Standing with hands tucked in one's armpits, thumbs visible and pointing up

  • Running the hands through the hair, flipping hair back

  • Assuming a pose that's sexy or draws attention to one's best attributes

  • Appearing unaffected by what others think

  • Speaking first, thinking second

INTERNAL SENSATIONS:

  • The feeling of being taller, bigger, stronger

  • Lungs expanded to their fullest through deep, satisfied breaths

MENTAL RESPONSES:

  • Positive self thoughts

  • Preoccupation with one's achievements or successes

  • A feeling of being able to conquer the world

  • Wanting to be surrounded by supportive loved ones

  • A desire to share achievements with others

  • A tendency to judge people according to one's personal measuring stick

  • Over-estimating one's capabilities

  • Underestimating others

  • A sense of entitlement

  • Planning and seeking advantages

CUES OF ACUTE OR LONG TERM PRIDE:

  • Enjoyment at proving others wrong

  • Bragging, obsessively talking about an achievement or material object

  • Praising group accomplishments as a way to remind people of one's own involvement

  • Reacting with anger or jealousy if one's reputation is impugned

  • Making radical statements or promises about future goals

  • Revisiting the source or place of accomplishment to feel empowered

MAY ESCALATE TO:

  • CONFIDENCE, SMUGNESS, CONTEMPT

CUES OF SUPPRESSED PRIDE:

  • Waving off a compliment

  • Passing the credit to someone else

  • Turning attention away from oneself

  • Seeking others' opinions as a form of validation

MAY DE-ESCALATE TO:

  • SATISFACTION, INDIFFERENCE

ASSOCIATED POWER VERBS:

Lift up, puff, expand, strut, swell, swagger, glow, exalt, preen, grin, nod, flush, flex, dash, dart, describe, explain, organize, blush, beam, boast, flatter, invest, relish, credit, appreciate

TYPES:

Research suggests two types of pride exist – authentic (beta) pride and hubristic (alpha) pride.

Below, are summaries of these studies. But, keep in mind there are four current theories about these two constructs. These theories are:

Theory #1: Authentic pride and hubristic pride represent two unique emotions.

Theory #2: Pride is comprised of pleasant valence (i.e., authentic pride) and unpleasant valence (i.e., hubristic pride).

Theory #3: Pride is comprised of high activation (i.e., authentic pride) and low activation (i.e., hubristic pride).

Theory #4: Authentic pride is a state emotion that occurs in response to a specific eliciting event, whereas hubristic pride is a personality trait that describes an individual who has a tendency to experienced pride across situations and over time. This theory would be similar to the distinction between fear as a state emotion and anxiety as the trait form of fear.

Authentic pride is a positive emotion that occurs after a specific accomplishment. During authentic pride, people experience accurate feelings of self-worth and a boost in self-esteem. Evolutionary psychologists believe that authentic pride is adaptive because the pride emotion encourages us to continue to approach tasks and to succeed. Other ways authentic pride could be adaptive is by garnering higher social status, achieving group acceptance, and even promoting helping behaviors.

Hubristic pride is viewed as unauthentic pride. Hubristic pride occurs when we experience pride in the absence of an eliciting event or even for eliciting events that we did not achieve. During hubristic pride, we experience an inflated sense of self-esteem because we may not have achieved something but still feel pride. Researchers believe that hubristic pride is maladaptive because it is associated with aggression and relationship dissatisfaction. Although, one could argue that hubristic pride is adaptive by helping an individual to achieve higher status through overconfidence or by taking credit for accomplishments that they did not achieve. Essentially, hubris could help us to achieving dominance, resources, and valuable mates by manipulating others into thinking we are genuinely an achiever.

Pride can be a virtue, but it needs to be the right kind of pride

Yes, it’s number 1 on the list of 7 deadly sins, but pride can actually move us toward our goals — and toward better behavior.

Gratitude and compassion are universally seen as positive feelings. By making our minds value the future, these two emotions make us more patient, more willing to persist in the face of challenges, and more resistant to temptations that distract us from our aims.

What other emotion can do the same things? Pride.

-Yes, pride.

This may seem surprising to you or just plain wrong. If you think about people who are labeled proud, it’s likely that a good number are egotists or blowhards. Pride, in the eyes of many, includes a bit of arrogance. And, as we all know, it’s on the list of the seven deadly sins, which might explain the familiar proverb “Pride comes before a fall.”

But I’d argue this picture is too simplistic — pride can also be a virtue. I’m not saying pride isn’t problematic in some respects or in some situations. However, in its most beneficial form, pride is inherently social and can help us achieve our goals.

Making the case that pride plays a role in fostering dedication can pose a few problems. People might feel proud of their abilities, but maybe they practice, study, or work hard simply because they find the task rewarding; pride is just an afterthought. Right?

One strategy to use pride in our own lives is to keep a journal where we track our success and our aspirations. Just as we should feel compassion for ourselves if and when we miss a goal, we should take pride when we successfully take steps toward a goal, as well as anticipate the pride we’ll feel when reaching the next step. By doing this, we’ll be charting our advancement through time, with today’s achievement likely being yesterday’s aspiration. At each step, it can be quite motivating to feel pride, much more so than if we only allowed ourselves to be proud upon reaching a final goal. However, it’s also essential to remember that progress toward goals doesn’t always follow a linear trajectory. It often goes in fits and starts. What matters most is a continued upward trajectory irrespective of the rate. Taking pride in the direction of progress benefits perseverance most.