Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked
Outstandingly prosocial individuals may not always be valued and admired, but sometimes depreciated and rejected. While prior research has mainly focused on devaluation of highly competent or successful individuals, comparable research in the domain of prosociality is scarce. The present research su...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701689/full |
| _version_ | 1818577222051561472 |
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| author | Lucia L.-A. Boileau David J. Grüning Herbert Bless |
| author_facet | Lucia L.-A. Boileau David J. Grüning Herbert Bless |
| author_sort | Lucia L.-A. Boileau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Outstandingly prosocial individuals may not always be valued and admired, but sometimes depreciated and rejected. While prior research has mainly focused on devaluation of highly competent or successful individuals, comparable research in the domain of prosociality is scarce. The present research suggests two mechanisms why devaluation of extreme prosocial individuals may occur: they may (a) constitute very high comparison standards for observers, and may (b) be perceived as communal narcissists. Two experiments test these assumptions. We confronted participants with an extreme prosocial or an ordinary control target and manipulated comparative aspects of the situation (salient vs. non-salient comparison, Experiment 1), and narcissistic aspects of the target (showing off vs. being modest, Experiment 2). Consistent with our assumptions, the extreme prosocial target was liked less than the control target, and even more so when the comparison situation was salient (Experiment 1), and when the target showed off with her good deeds (Experiment 2). Implications that prosociality does not always breed more liking are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T06:26:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cc0ceec40d3c432abcf80df77116091f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T06:26:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-cc0ceec40d3c432abcf80df77116091f2022-12-21T22:40:59ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-08-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.701689701689Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are DislikedLucia L.-A. Boileau0David J. Grüning1Herbert Bless2Chair of Microsociology and Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, GermanyDepartment of Cognitive Research in Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Cultural Studies, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyChair of Microsociology and Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, GermanyOutstandingly prosocial individuals may not always be valued and admired, but sometimes depreciated and rejected. While prior research has mainly focused on devaluation of highly competent or successful individuals, comparable research in the domain of prosociality is scarce. The present research suggests two mechanisms why devaluation of extreme prosocial individuals may occur: they may (a) constitute very high comparison standards for observers, and may (b) be perceived as communal narcissists. Two experiments test these assumptions. We confronted participants with an extreme prosocial or an ordinary control target and manipulated comparative aspects of the situation (salient vs. non-salient comparison, Experiment 1), and narcissistic aspects of the target (showing off vs. being modest, Experiment 2). Consistent with our assumptions, the extreme prosocial target was liked less than the control target, and even more so when the comparison situation was salient (Experiment 1), and when the target showed off with her good deeds (Experiment 2). Implications that prosociality does not always breed more liking are discussed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701689/fulldevaluationdo-gooder derogationsocial comparisoncommunal narcissismprosocial behavior |
| spellingShingle | Lucia L.-A. Boileau David J. Grüning Herbert Bless Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked Frontiers in Psychology devaluation do-gooder derogation social comparison communal narcissism prosocial behavior |
| title | Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked |
| title_full | Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked |
| title_fullStr | Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked |
| title_full_unstemmed | Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked |
| title_short | Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked |
| title_sort | too good to be liked when and how prosocial others are disliked |
| topic | devaluation do-gooder derogation social comparison communal narcissism prosocial behavior |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701689/full |
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