Does virtue lead to status? Testing the moral virtue theory of status attainment.

Abstract

The authors perform one of the first empirical tests of the moral virtue theory of status attainment (MVT), a conceptual framework for showing that morality leads to status. Studies 1a to 1d are devoted to developing and validating a 15-item status attainment scale (SAS) to measure how virtue leads to admiration (virtue–admiration), how dominance leads to fear (dominance–fear), and how competence leads to respect (competence–respect). Studies 2a and 2b are an exploration of the nomological network and discriminant validity to show that peer-reported virtue–admiration is positively related to moral character and perceptions such as perceived warmth and unrelated to amoral constructs such as neuroticism. In addition, virtue–admiration mediates the positive effect of several self-reported moral character traits, such as moral identity-internalization, on status conferral. Study 3 supports the external validity of the virtue route to status in a sample of fulltime managers from China. In Study 4, a preregistered experiment, virtue evokes superior status while selfishness evokes inferior status. Perceivers who are high in moral character show stronger perceptions of superior status. Finally, Study 5, another preregistered experiment, shows that virtue leads to higher status through inducing virtue–admiration rather than competence–respect, even for incompetent actors. The findings provide initial support for MVT arguing that virtue is a distinct, third route to status.

A paradox of pride: Hubristic pride predicts strategic dishonesty in response to status threats.

“…To measure perceived status, we asked participants to rate how “high-status” they believed their partner to be, how much they “respected” their partner, and how much they “admired” their partner. These items were drawn from previous research assessing status perceptions (Anderson et al, 2012; Bai et al, 2019; Hays & Bendersky, 2015; Kilduff & Galinsky, 2013). We averaged responses to these three items to create an index of perceived partner status (α = .76).…”

Surviving and Thriving: Fundamental Social Motives Provide Purpose in Life

“…Our measures of PIL captured a sense of goals and direction in life. Such long-term goals can link to status through a prestigious career (Morse, Neel, Todd, & Funder, 2015), meaningful social influence (e.g., altruism; Hardy & Van Vugt, 2006), or even moral virtue (Bai, Ho, & Yan, 2019). People may not see the potential eudemonic benefits of status pursuit, or perhaps their picture of high status only includes antisocial themes such as greed, so future research should measure status pursuit such that its true relationships with well-being facets emerge.…”

“…Some wrote about being the kindest or most generous person they could. Gaining the respect of others through virtue is a demonstrated pathway to higher social status (Bai et al, 2019). Taken together, these findings suggest that status pursuit can increase PIL, even for those not especially interested in dominance or material wealth.…”

Prestige and dominance: a review of the Dual Evolutionary Model of Social Hierarchy

“…However, competence and altruism seems to be tightly linked together in many empirical contexts. For example, altruism is positively correlated with prestige (Cheng et al, 2010) and morality with competence-respect in some of Bai's own studies (Bai, Ho, & Yan, 2019). Similarly, competence (e.g., hunting skill and gardening knowledge) and altruistic behaviours (e.g., sharing meat and helping others with work) clustered together in a study in a foraging society using data reduction techniques (Konečná & Urlacher, 2017).…”