Keeping status: How superiors infer benign and malicious envy of subordinates and regulate it interpersonally

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The goal of the proposed project is to test the function of emotions in the interpersonal regulation of status hierarchies. Status is attained by gaining respect or intimidating others. Therefore, the emergence of status hierarchies is inherently social with emotions of high- and low-status individuals dynamically establishing and maintaining ranks. Yet, the investigation of the interplay of various emotions in status hierarchy formation still awaits more empirical scrutiny. The proposed project aims at investigating how superiors (a) perceive and (b) react to threats to their rank by the envy of subordinates. I predict that superiors can infer benign envy (motivation to improve personal standing) and malicious envy (motivation to decrease the standing of the superior) in subordinates and will then react with either appreciative humility or contempt to interpersonally regulate the emotion of the other. Specifically, if a high-status person is confronted with a low-status person looking with disappointment at the high-status envy object at the expense of the high-status person, s/he might infer benign envy. This should foster an intention not to brag, eliciting appreciative humility, and therefore approach behavior. In contrast, if a high-status person is confronted with a low-status person looking with anger at the high-status person at the expense of the high-status envy object, s/he might infer malicious envy. This should foster evaluations of the low-status person as being immoral, eliciting contempt, and therefore distancing behavior. Seven experiments are proposed to test these predictions. In sum, this project would pave the way to a new interpersonal approach to research on the emergence of status hierarchies and the elementary role played by emotions.