When expressing pride makes people seem less competent

Abstract

People often take great satisfaction in their professional and personal accomplishments. Previous research suggests that sharing these pride experiences enhances impressions of one’s competence. However, this past work has examined pride in contexts where others’ reactions were absent, unlike most workplaces and performance-oriented settings where diverse reactions to similar achievements occur. I argue that what pride signals about a person’s competence depends on how others respond to similar successes. Specifically, expressing pride in a performance signals lower competence when others do not share the same prideful reaction. Nine preregistered studies support this prediction. The results also showed that expressing pride in a performance indicates that the performance is close to one’s peak ability. This inference about someone’s performance potential helped explain why expressing pride can signal lower competence. Overall, this work shows that pride is not an unconditional indicator of competence but rather contingent on the emotional responses of others.