Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-76mfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-20T11:54:59.336Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What matters emotionally: The importance of pride for cumulative culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2020

Jessica L. Tracy Open the ORCID record for Jessica L. Tracy [Opens in a new window]
Jessica L. Tracy*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaV6T 1Z4. jltracy@psych.ubc.cawww.ubc-emotionlab.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Osiurak and Reynaud highlight a major omission of models of cumulative technological culture. I propose an additional problematic omission: pride. By taking this emotion into account, we can address the question of why humans seek to learn, teach, and innovate – three processes essential to cumulative technological culture (CTC). By fostering achievement, prestige, and social learning, pride provides a pivotal piece of the puzzle.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e180
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ashton-James, C. E. & Tracy, J. L. (2012) Pride and prejudice: How feelings about the self influence judgments of others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38:466–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, S. A., Akmal, N. & Frampton, K. L. (2010) Two-year-olds are vigilant of others’ non-verbal cues to credibility. Developmental Science 13:363–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brosseau-Liard, P., Cassels, T. & Birch, S. (2014) You seem certain but you were wrong before: Developmental change in preschoolers’ relative trust in accurate versus confident speakers. PLoS One 9:e108308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brosseau-Liard, P. E. & Poulin-Dubois, D. (2014) Sensitivity to confidence cues increases during the second year of life. Infancy 19:461–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, J. T., Tracy, J. L. & Henrich, J. (2010) Pride, personality, and the evolutionary foundations of human social status. Evolution and Human Behavior 31:334–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damian, R. I. & Robins, R. W. (2013) Aristotle's virtue or Dante's deadliest sin? The influence of authentic and hubristic pride on creative achievement. Learning and Individual Differences 26:156–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorfman, A., Eyal, T. & Bereby-Meyer, Y. (2014) Proud to cooperate: The consideration of pride promotes cooperation in a social dilemma. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 55:105–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henrich, J. (2017) The secret of our success: How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Henrich, J. & Gil-White, F. J. (2001) The evolution of prestige: Freely conferred deference as a mechanism for enhancing the benefits of cultural transmission. Evolution and Human Behavior 22:165–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ho, S.-Y., Tong, E. M. W. & Jia, L. (2016) Authentic and hubristic pride: Differential effects on delay of gratification. Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 16:1147–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenig, M. A. & Woodward, A. L. (2010) 24-Month-olds’ sensitivity to the prior inaccuracy of the source: Possible mechanisms. Developmental Psychology 46:815–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martens, J. P. & Tracy, J. L. (2013) The emotional origins of a social learning bias: Does the pride expression cue copying? Social Psychological and Personality Science 4:492–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shariff, A. F. & Tracy, J. L. (2009) Knowing who's boss: Implicit perceptions of status from the nonverbal expression of pride. Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 9:631–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tenney, E. R., Meikle, N. L., Hunsaker, D., Moore, D. A. & Anderson, C. (2019) Is overconfidence a social liability? The effect of verbal versus nonverbal expressions of confidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 116:396–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tracy, J. L. (2016) Take pride: Why the deadliest sin holds the secret to human success. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
Tracy, J. L. & Matsumoto, D. (2008) The spontaneous expression of pride and shame: Evidence for biologically innate nonverbal displays. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105:11655–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tracy, J. L., Mercadante, E., Witkower, Z. & Cheng, J. T. (in press) The evolution of pride and social hierarchy. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.Google Scholar
Tracy, J. L. & Robins, R. W. (2004) Putting the self into self-conscious emotions: A theoretical model. Psychological Inquiry 15:103–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tracy, J. L. & Robins, R. W. (2008) The nonverbal expression of pride: Evidence for cross-cultural recognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94:516–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tracy, J. L., Shariff, A. F. & Cheng, J. T. (2010) A naturalist's view of pride. Emotion Review 2:163–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tracy, J. L., Shariff, A. F., Zhao, W. & Henrich, J. (2013) Cross-cultural evidence that the nonverbal expression of pride is an automatic status signal. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 142:163–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Der Schalk, J., Bruder, M. & Manstead, A. (2012) Regulating emotion in the context of interpersonal decisions: The role of anticipated pride and regret. Frontiers in Psychology 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weidman, A. C., Tracy, J. L. & Elliot, A. J. (2016) The benefits of following your pride: Authentic pride promotes achievement. Journal of Personality 84:607–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, L. A. & DeSteno, D. (2008) Pride and perseverance: The motivational role of pride. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94:1007–1017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Witkower, Z., Tracy, J. L., Cheng, J. T. & Henrich, J. (2019) Two signals of social rank: Prestige and dominance are associated with distinct nonverbal displays. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.Google ScholarPubMed