Children’s perception of envy and modesty: Does depreciation serve as a mask for failure or success?

The objective of this study was to analyze children’s perceptions of characters who try to disguise expressions of success and failure in situations of social comparison. In the case of upward comparison, when the character was surpassed by a peer, his/her expression was either one of disparagement or of admiration for the successful peer. In downward comparison situations, the character gained public social recognition for his/her achievement, and s/he expressed either modesty (self-depreciation) or immodesty. From these expressions of the character, participants (six and eight years old; N = 100) assessed the character’s ability and niceness, and the appropriateness of his/her attitude. All the children reported that the unsuccessful envious character in the disparagement condition was unskillful and unfriendly, and his/her response was inappropriate; conversely, in the admiration condition, the unsuccessful character was considered skillful, friendly, and appropriate. Moreover, all participants believed that the successful character was skillful, regardless of his/her modest or immodest response. Only eight-year-olds considered the immodest response to be inappropriate and nasty. We discuss the results considering the consequences of following display rules and the dilemma of being honest in both social situations.