Abstract
Reputation is highly important within groups as it provides a number of benefits, at both an instrumental (including access to valuable resources and the likelihood to influence others) and a symbolic level (e.g., satisfaction of fundamental esteem needs). In the present paper, we proposed and found that the degree to which people are concerned about their reputation is sensitive to personality differences. We found evidence that prevention focus and others’ approval as contingency of self-worth predict concern for reputation via self-monitoring orientation (mediation model). Results are discussed in terms of reputation management, and future research avenues are proposed.
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Notes
To be sure that the trait of interest was prevention, rather than promotion regulatory focus, a subsample of 133 participants completed both prevention and promotion focus scales, as well as concern for reputation items: Although both prevention and promotion are significantly correlated with concern for reputation (r = .218, p = .012 and r = .197, p = .039, respectively), when simultaneously entered into a linear regression model, only prevention focus significantly predicted the dependent variable, β = .18, t = 1.99, p = . 049.
As we administered that scale to university students, we also rephrased four items to make them more general and more suitable to the experience of university students, replacing “classmates” with “friends”, “teacher” with a general “people”, and “when a new person come to school” with “when I meet a new person” (see the Appendix).
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Acknowledgments
We wish to express our gratitude to Michele Roccato for his statistical advices.
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Appendix
Appendix
Prevention Orientation sub-scale (Lockwood et al. 2002)
Original version | Italian version |
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1. In general, I am focused on preventing negative events in my life. | In generale, mi do molto da fare per evitare che nella mia vita si verifichino eventi spiacevoli. |
2. I am anxious that I will fall short of my responsibilities and obligations. | L’idea di non riuscire a far fronte ai miei obblighi e alle mie responsabilità mi mette in ansia. |
3. I often think about the person I am afraid I might become in the future. | Penso spesso alla persona che ho paura di diventare nel futuro. |
4. I often worry that I will fail to accomplish my academic goals. | Spesso mi preoccupo di non riuscire a raggiungere i miei obiettivi di studio/lavoro. |
5. I often imagine myself experiencing bad things that I fear might happen to me. | Spesso, con l’immaginazione, fantastico di vivere delle cose brutte, delle quali ho paura. |
6. I frequently think about how I can prevent failures in my life. | Penso spesso a come prevenire i fallimenti nella mia vita. |
7. I am more oriented toward preventing losses than I am toward achieving gains. | Sono più orientato a prevenire perdite che a cercare i guadagni. |
8. My major goal in school right now is to avoid becoming an academic failure. | In questo momento, il mio principale obiettivo lavorativo è quello di evitare di diventare un fallimento. |
9. I see myself as someone who is primarily striving to become the self I “ought” to be—to fulfill my duties, responsibilities, and obligations. | Mi vedo come una persona che cerca soprattutto di diventare ciò che «dovrebbe », vale a dire di assolvere i propri obblighi, doveri e responsabilità. |
Others’ Approval sub-scale of the Contingencies of Self Worth Scale (Crocker et al. 2003)
1. I don’t care what other people think of me.a | Non mi importa di quello che gli altri pensano di me.a |
2. What others think of me has no effect on what I think about myself.a | Quello che gli altri pensano di me non influenza quello che io penso di me stesso/a.a |
3. I don’t care if other people have a negative opinion about me.a | Non mi interessa se le altre persone hanno un’opinione negative di me.a |
4. My self-esteem depends on the opinions others hold of me. | La mia autostima dipende dai giudizi degli altri. |
5. I can’t respect myself if others don’t respect me. | Non riesco ad avere rispetto per me stesso/a se gli altri non mi rispettano. |
Self-Monitoring Scale (from the JSMS by Graziano et al. 1987)
1. I sometimes wear some kinds of clothes just because my friends are wearing that kind. | Mi capita di indossare certi vestiti perché li indossano i miei amici/le mie amiche. |
2. Sometimes I clown around so my friends will like me. | A volte faccio il pagliaccio per piacere ai miei amici / alle mie amiche. |
3. When I am not sure how to act I watch others to see what to do. | Quando non so bene come comportarmi, guardo gli altri per capire cosa fare. |
4. I laugh more when I watch funny TV shows with other people than when I watch them alone. | Se guardo un programma divertente in TV, rido di più quando sono in compagnia che quando sono da solo. |
5. When I'm afraid of someone I try to be nice to them so they will not bother me. | Quando temo qualcuno, cerco di essere gentile con lui/lei in modo che non mi dia fastidio. |
6. I try to figure out how people wants me to act and then that's how I try to act. | Cerco di capire cosa si aspettano da me le persone e cerco di accontentarle. |
7. I feel embarrassed when I don't have the same kind of clothes as my friends. | Mi sento in imbarazzo se sono vestito in modo molto diverso dai miei amici/amiche. |
8. When I meet a new person, I listen to what my friends say before I decide whether I like that new person. | Di fronte ad una persona nuova, quello che dicono i miei amici mi aiuta a decidere se quella persona mi piace o no. |
9. I can make people think I'm happy even if I'm not happy. | Posso far credere agli altri che sono felice anche se non lo sono. |
10. I feel unhappy when I don't have the things that my friends have. | Mi sento triste quando non ho quello che hanno i miei amici. |
Concern for Reputation Scale (De Cremer & Tyler 2005)
1. I am rarely concerned about my reputation.a | Sono raramente preoccupato della mia reputazione.a |
2. I do not consider what others say about me.a | Non mi interessa quello che gli altri dicono di me.a |
3. I wish to have a good reputation. | Desidero avere una buona reputazione. |
4. If my reputation is not good, I feel very bad. | Se non ho una buona reputazione mi dispiace. |
5. I find it important that others consider my reputation as a serious matter. | Per me è importante che gli altri prendano sul serio la mia reputazione. |
6. I try hard to work on my reputation (in my relationships with others). | Nelle relazioni con gli altri, mi impegno per avere una buona reputazione. |
7. I find it difficult if others paint an incorrect image of me. | Se gli altri mi dipingessero in modo negativo, farei fatica ad accettarlo. |
a Reversed score.
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Cavazza, N., Guidetti, M. & Pagliaro, S. Who Cares for Reputation? Individual Differences and Concern for Reputation. Curr Psychol 34, 164–176 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9249-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9249-y