Pride
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Pride is the emotion felt when someone takes credit for causing a positive outcome that supports a positive aspect of his or her self-concept (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). Pride is the opposite of shame or embarrassment. Individuals experience pride when something good happens, or when there is reason to believe they have accomplished something valuable. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, pride is “the quality or state of being proud”, with proud being defined as “having or displaying excessive self-esteem” (Merriam-Webster, 2010). A proud person feels that he or she caused the good event, and the good event confirms the person’s positive self-image (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). Research in the United States suggests that people feel proud and experience pride when they have accomplished something and their social status is on the rise (Kalat & Shiota, 2007).
Pride is an emotion that is part of our shared evolutionary heritage, but this emotion can also differ substantially from culture to culture (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). Pride is one of a few “self-conscious” emotions that require an appraisal of one’s self as good or bad. However, “self” means different things to people in different cultures. In individualistic cultures, such as the United States, individual rights, achievements and expression take priority over group needs. The “self” is unique and distinct from the people around (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). On the contrary, in collectivist cultures such as China, “self” is more closely tied to group memberships and relationships with friends and family. Therefore, people in collectivist cultures would experience pride in response to their friends’ and relatives’ actions, not just their own (Triandis, McCusker, & Hui, 1990).
In a study of Chinese and American college students, Deborah Stipek (1998) tested the hypothesis that people in collectivist cultures would experience more pride in response to their relative’s actions rather than their own. As predicted, Chinese participants indicated that they would actually be prouder of their children’s accomplishments than of their own. This study suggests that the Chinese react to close relatives, such as their children, as though they were part of the “self”, and more pride is felt in the accomplishments of the “interdependent self” rather than the person’s “individual self” (Stipek, 1988).
There are also differences in the expressions of pride across cultures. In the United States, pride is generally considered a good emotion to experience. The individualist culture of the United States encourages displays of status and hierarchy. However, in many societies, it is possible to have too much pride. For example, in Eastern Asian collectivist cultures, modesty and equality is encouraged, therefore over-expression of pride can be viewed as rude and immoral (Kalat & Shiot, 2007). Among the Dusun Baguk of Malaysia, it is considered rude and immoral to flaunt one’s bangga, or pride (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). Further, in the study conducted by Deborah Stipek, the Chinese participants tend to agree far more strongly than Americans that expressing pride is generally a bad thing (Stipek, 1998). Americans, however, are not at all shy about celebrating their individual accomplishments.
Although pride is experienced and interpreted differently in different cultures, the nonverbal expression of pride is recognized across cultures. In a research study conducted by Jessica Tracy and Richard Robin, the findings indicate the expression of pride is even recognized by individuals from a preliterate, highly isolated tribe in Burkina Faso, West Africa (Tracy & Robins, 2008). This study suggests that the nonverbal expression of pride may be a universal emotion for humans, as it is recognized across different cultures, even one that is not industrialized or literate. The nonverbal expression of pride can be viewed as a person tilting the head back slightly while sitting or standing tall, and putting the arms above the head or hands on the hips (Kalat & Shiot, 2007).
Example - Research
In a study conducted of Chinese and German students, Manfred Neumann (2009) tested the hypothesis that individuals in collectivist cultures with predominately interdependent self-construal would experience more pride than individuals with independent self-construal if others are successful. Individuals who have a highly relational, interdependent self-construal will tend to define themselves in terms of their close relationships with others. This form of self-definition contrasts with the independent self-construal, in which the self is viewed as autonomous and separated from others (Cross & Gore, 2003).
In Neumann’s study, twenty-one students (20 women, mean age = 19.9) at the Universities of Shanghai and Peking and 28 students (21 women, mean age = 23.5) at the University of Würzburg participated in a questionnaire study. Participants were asked to imagine as vividly as possible being told that a person from their own country had received the Nobel Prize for Literature. They had to indicate their feeling of pride on a rating scale ranging from 1 = "nonexistent" to 7 = "extraordinarily strong" (Neumann, 2009).
An indicator for the effect of self-construal might be the way individuals deal with their emotions. The more individuals have an urge to share their emotion or believe others will share their emotion, the more interdependent their self-construal is. Thus, the participants were asked to indicate (1) "How strong is your wish to share this feeling with others?" and (2) "How strong is your belief that most others would react with the same kind of feelings?" Answers were provided on the same rating scale used for the pride item (Neumann, 2009).
In the subsequent scenarios, participants were asked to imagine that a person they knew from their childhood had published a world-famous bestseller, that a team at their university had won an international soccer championship, and that researchers from their university had developed a successful drug against cancer (Neumann, 2009).
As predicted, the Chinese students, from collectivist cultures with predominately interdependent self-construal, felt relatively more pride in response to achievements of relevant others (others with whom they relate to) than the German students, from individualistic cultures with independent self-construal. Cultural differences were reflected not only in the intensity of the pride experienced, but also in the quality of the experience. These findings suggest that differences in self-construal between collectivistic and individualistic cultures are responsible for the differences in emotional responses to the achievement of others, specifically the amount and intensity of the pride experienced (Neumann, 2009).
Example - Real-Life
In the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the U.S. men’s hockey team, made up of amateur and collegiate players, defeated the Soviet Union team, which was considered the best hockey team in the world. What the U.S. hockey team did to the Soviets on the ice hardly compares to what they did to the hearts and minds of American people. Americans were overcome with pride and patriotism. Countless American flags were waving as the crowd chanted “U-S-A-U-S-A!” and some even wept tears of joy (Allen, 1997).
The Soviet Union entered the Olympics tournament as the favorite, having won every ice hockey gold medal but one since 1956 (Allen, 1997). The U.S. team was apparently the “underdog”, led by Coach Herb Brooks. The two teams were naturally rivals due to the decades-old cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States. The day before the match, columnist Dave Anderson wrote in the New York Times, "Unless the ice melts, or unless the United States team or another team performs a miracle, as did the American squad in 1960, the Russians are expected to easily win the Olympic gold medal for the sixth time in the last seven tournaments" (Allen, 1997).
The remarkable U.S. win ultimately became known as the “Miracle on Ice” and named by Sports Illustrated as the greatest sports moment of the 20th century (St. Petersburg Times). Countless articles and videos documenting this incredible event are posted on the internet. A film was even made based on the event. The win of the U.S. hockey team marked a great achievement not only for the team and the fans, but the nation as a collective whole was beaming with pride.
Original footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTev5pSuYLk
“Miracle on Ice” movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nipAau5kIsQ&NR=1
References
Allen, K. (1997). College kids perform Olympic miracle. ESPN. Retrieved February 8, 2010, from http://espn.go.com/classic/s/miracle_ice_1980.html
Cross, S. E., Gore, J. S., & Morris, M. L. (2003). The relational self-construal, self-concept consistency, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Kalat, J., & Shiota, M. (2007) Emotion 65-66, 236-239. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Learning.
Merriam-Webster (2010). Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pride
Neumann, R., Steinhäuser, N., & Roeder, U. R. (2009). How self-construal shapes emotion: Cultural differences in the feeling of pride. Social Cognition, 27(2), 327-337. doi:10.1521/soco.2009.27.2.327
Stipek, D. (1998). Differences between americans and chinese in the circumstances evoking pride, shame, and guilt. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29(5), 616-629. doi:10.1177/0022022198295002
The Anniversary of a Miracle (2005, February 22). St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved February 8, 2010 from http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/22/news_pf/Sports/The_anniversary_of_a_.shtml
Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2008). The nonverbal expression of pride: Evidence for cross-cultural recognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(3), 516-530. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.94.3.516
Triandus, H., McCusker, C., & Hui, C. (1990). Multimethod probes of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1006-1020.
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