A Paradox of Pride: Hubristic Pride Predicts Strategic Dishonesty in Response to Status Threats

Numerous studies have shown that pride comprises two distinct facets: authentic pride, which is associated with achievement, high self-esteem, and prosocial personality traits; and hubristic pride, associated with arrogance, low self-esteem, and antisocial personality traits. Functionalist accounts suggest that both pride facets facilitate the attainment of social rank, raising the question of how the more antisocial and dysfunctional hubristic facet could increase one's social status. We propose that hubristically proud individuals use the antisocial behavior of dishonesty in a strategic and ultimately adaptive way, to gain status in response to experienced status threats. We tested this account in eight studies (seven of which were preregistered) by placing participants in a situation in which they encountered an opportunity to lie as a means of obtaining various social rewards (e.g., status, power). Findings show that hubristically proud participants engaged in dishonest behavior when faced with a status threat, but not when faced with the threat of a loss of power or generalized inferiority; these individuals also did not behave dishonestly in a nonsocial situation. We further found that the observed effects of hubristic pride on dishonesty were largely independent of shared variance with narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. These findings suggest that hubristic pride may engender a willingness to lie to get ahead, but only in situations where one's status has been threatened.