Seven Sins: Pride is the reason why humans basically work hard, says Jessica L Tracy
Down To Earth (DTE) speaks to scientists and authors to take stock of what we know so far about the emotions of pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth; the historical debates around them and the critical gaps in our understanding.
In the first part, DTE speaks to Jessica L Tracy, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Tracy works on moral thinking and emotions. Her book, Take Pride, explores how pride has shaped our minds and culture.
Q. Is pride a social or evolutionary emotion?
A. Pride is the emotion that provides the foundation for our social hierarchy, and every society has a hierarchical system. We have evidence to suggest that pride evolved in humans. It is universal in humans, and it evolved to help people navigate the status hierarchy.
When we feel pride because of our success, we think we deserve a higher status. And we show pride non-verbally, sending an automatic message to others that we deserve higher status. And it is present across cultures. So pride is a critical part of how we get status.
Setting aside the evolutionary benefits, at an individual level, pride is something that motivates us all the time. We wish to build an identity that our society approves of. So pride is the reason why we basically work hard and do all the good stuff that we do, whether it is achieving, or behaving morally, or caring for others.
Q. Do we understand pride in the context of human evolution?
A. I did a lot of work to test whether pride is universal; if it is part of human nature or if we just acquire it. All the studies we have done so far point to pride being part of human nature.
In Burkina Faso in West Africa, we found that people living in a small-scale traditional society, cut off from the rest of the world, identified pride in non-verbal expression the same way that Americans did. This suggests that pride is probably universal. We looked at Olympic athletes and found that these judo athletes showed pride, no matter where they were from, after they won a match compared to when they lost. We looked at blind athletes in the Paralympics Games, including congenitally blind athletes (who have never been able to see), and they showed the same response. To me, that is really strong evidence that pride is innate to human nature. People who could not have learned to show pride from watching others, display pride in response to success.
There is evidence to show that non-human primates also have the pride emotion. Chimpanzees show something that looks a lot like pride right before they are about to fight another chimpanzee and it is probably their way of saying: “Hey, watch out, you do not want to fight me.”
I think, there is good evidence to suggest that pride has evolved. Theoretically it makes sense as well, because it promotes high status. So, people who show pride are awarded higher status. When others look at photos of the pride expression, they have an automatic tendency to see them as high status, whether it is in America, Fiji or a traditional society.
Our behavioural studies find that people who show pride are more likely to be treated as leaders and given power. From an evolutionary perspective, that is really adaptive.
Q. Are there cultural differences in how people view pride?
A. The way that pride is viewed varies a lot by culture. In the US, where I have started studying pride, people think of it as the good kind. In other places, perhaps in India, people think of pride as bad. I think that difference is really a cultural thing.
These differences, I would suspect, may have something to do with individualism versus collectivism. So, that is sort of the major cultural difference that I am seeing between countries. This is just my observation and I have not systematically studied this. But it makes sense that in a highly individualistic culture, where the emphasis is on standing out, pride could be viewed as a good thing because pride is what motivates you to stand out and do the thing. So, authentic pride being a good pride is going to be overemphasised.
Collectivistic cultures, where emphasis is on group success and individualism is downplayed, display of pride can be problematic. It could actually disrupt social harmony.
Q. Pride has two facets: the authentic and the hubristic. The former is associated with achievement and the latter with arrogance. When did this distinction between the two come about? Did it change how pride is viewed?
A. I think, scholars have known about this distinction for millennia. Aristotle and Rousseau talked about it. But in psychology, pride was not studied. When I began to study it, what I quickly realised is that there are two different kinds of pride. I had done some work with self-esteem and narcissism and the distinction between those two constructs.
I realised that there are two kinds of pride. You have this one pride that is all about achievement and self-worth, feeling confident and wanting to put in hard work that is relevant to self-esteem. Then you have the other kind of pride that is all about arrogance and egotism and inflated ego, probably due to feelings of insecurity. That is why people engage in arrogance. And that is more linked to narcissism.
(as told to Rohini Krishnamurthy)
This is the second of an 18-part series.
This was first published as part of the cover story of the 16-31 May, 2024 Print edition of Down To Earth