Effects on Status Striving: How Self-Perceived Value, Self-Esteem, and Personality Traits Impact Preferred Status

Abstract

Prior research shows that despite the belief that humans universally desire high status in group settings (i.e., leadership roles), individuals with low self-perceived value (SPV) perceive themselves as being unable to make meaningful contributions to the group’s success. Thus, they prefer low status to conform to the external social pressure of other group members’ expectations. Yet, internal factors such as self-esteem and personality traits may also shape individuals’ preferred status by buffering the effects of external factors. To examine these hypotheses, two studies were conducted, in which the participants’ self-perceived value and self-esteem were manipulated. The results from these studies were consistent with previous studies, showing that participants with higher SPV preferred and expected higher status than participants with lower SPV. Moreover, individuals’ personality traits predicted the status they preferred and expected: more extroverted participants preferred and expected higher status than less extroverted participants, while participants with higher levels of neuroticism preferred and expected lower status than participants with lower levels of neuroticism. Participants with higher self-esteem were also more likely to prefer and expect higher status. Lastly, low self-esteem was associated with lower preferred status for participants with low SPV, but not high SPV. Because self-esteem is correlated with individuals’ socioeconomic status (SES), this study further highlights the need to address the self-esteem gap between individuals in high and low SES to prevent pre-established social hierarchies from perpetuating.