SOCIAL RANK STYLES, MACHIAVELLIANISM AND THE ATTITUDE TOWARD CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2018.2.207-225Keywords:
Social rank styles, Machiavellianism, Attitude toward conspicuous consumptionAbstract
Conspicuous consumption describes signalling of one’s buying power in order to impress others and secure and/or preserve a favourable place in a social hierarchy. The current study, involving 200 junior and senior high school students from Serbia, examined inclination for lavish spending on brand name clothes in relation to social dominance. Our aim was to examine a predictive relationship between an exploitative interpersonal strategy (marked by Machiavellianism, Leadership, and Ruthless Self−Advancement), and the attitude toward conspicuous consumption. Our respondents with high esteem of power, emanating from the principal position within a group, and prone to Machiavellianism and Ruthless Self−Advancement, had a positive attitude toward conspicuous consumption (an indirect measure of the actual behaviour). Although one’s attitude toward conspicuous consumption is likely to be multifaceted, our findings suggest that a positive attitude towards conspicuous consumption may be an accompanying ingredient of the opportunistic and calculating life strategy. The results indicate that conspicuous consumption is most likely embedded in the social ranking processes.
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References
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Cowlishaw, G., & Dunbar, R. I. (1991). Dominance rank and mating success in male primates. Animal Behaviour, 41(6), 1045−1056. doi:10.1016/ S0003−3472(05)80642−6
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De Fraja, G. (2009). The origin of utility: Sexual selection and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 72(1), 51−69. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.019.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1998). The social brain hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology, 6, 178–190. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520−6505.
Egan, V., Hughes, N., & Palmer, E. J. (2015). Moral disengagement, the Dark Triad, and unethical consumer attitudes. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 123−128.
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Furnham, A., Richards, S. C., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The Dark Triad of personality: A 10 year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(3), 199−216. doi:10.1111/spc3.12018
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Gordon, L. V. (1960). SRA manual for Survey of Interpersonal Values. Chicago: Science Research Assoc.
Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., Sundie, J. M., Cialdini, R. B., Miller, G. F., & Kenrick, D. T. (2007). Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: when romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 85–102. doi:10.1037/0022−3514.93.1.85
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Johnstone, R. A. (2002). Signalling of need, sibling competition, and the cost of signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 96, 12644−12649.
Jonason P. K., & Webster G. D. (2012). A protean approach to social influence: Dark Triad Personalities and Social Influence Tactics. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(4), 521–526. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.023
Jonason, P. K., Li, N. P., Webster, G. W., & Schmitt, D. P. (2009). The Dark Triad: Facilitating short−term mating in men. European Journal of Personality, 23, 5−18. doi:10.1002/per.698
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Lee, K., & Ashton, M. C. (2014). The Dark Triad, the Big Five, and the HEXACO model. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 2−5. doi:10.1016/j. paid.2014.01.048
Lee, K., Ashton, M. C., Wiltshire, J., Bourdage, J. S., Visser, B. A., & Gallucci, A. (2013). Sex, power, and money: Prediction from the Dark Triad and Honesty–Humility. European Journal of Personality, 27(2), 169−184. doi:10.1002/per.1860
Majstorović, N. (1998). Interpersonalne vrednosti i socijalni status [Interpersonal values and social status]. Psihologija, 31(1−2), 67−78.
Mitić, A., Petrović, I., & Đurić, V. (2017). Role of Conspicuous consumption in social interaction and perception. Teme, 41(4), 951−963. doi:10.22190/TEME1704951M
Mitić, A., Velov, B., & Đurić, V. (2010). Stav prema upadljivoj potrošnji i interpersonalne vrednosti kod mladih [Attitude towards conspicuous consumption and interpersonal values among young people]. Zbornik radova sa Međunarodnog naučnog skupa „Društveni izazovi evropskih integracija − Srbija i uporedna iskustva“, 105−113. Novi Sad: USEE.
Nelissen, R. M. A., & Meijers, M. H. C. (2011). Social benefits of luxury brands as costly signals of wealth and status. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32, 343– 355. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.12.002.
O’Cass, A., & Frost, H. (2002). Status brands: examining the effects of non-productrelated brand associations on status and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 11(2), 67-88.
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of Personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 556−563. doi:10.1016/S0092−6566(02)00505−6 Pearson, R., Mundfrom, D., & Piccone, A. (2013). A Comparison of Ten Methods for Determining the Number of Factors in Exploratory Factor Analysis. Multiple Linear Regression Viewpoints, 39(1), 1-15.
Saad, G. (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Schoep, I. (2004). Assessing the role of conspicuous consumption in the middle Minoan I-II periods. Oxford Journal of Archeology, 23, 243–269. doi: 10.1111/j.1468–0092.2004.00211.x
Shen, D., & Dickson, M. A. (2001). Consumers’ acceptance of unethical clothing consumption activities: influence of cultural identification, ethnicity, and Machiavellianism. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 19(2), 76−87. doi:1 0.1177%2F0887302X0101900204
Shukla, P. (2008). Conspicuous consumption among middle age consumers: psychological and brand antecedents. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 17(1), 25−36. doi:10.1108/10610420810856495
Sundie, M. J., Griskevicius, V., Vohs, K. D., Kenrick, D. T., Tybur, J. M., & Beal, D. J. (2011). Peacocks, Porsches, and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption as a Sexual Signaling System. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100(4), 664–680. doi:10.1037/a0021669
Suzuki, A., Honma, Y., & Suga, S. (2013). Indelible distrust: memory bias toward cheaters revealed as high persistence against extinction. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(6), 1901–1913. doi:10.1037/a0033335
Veblen, T. (1902). The Theory of the Leisure Class: an Economic Study of Institutions. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Velov, B., Gojković, V., & Đurić, V. (2014). Materialism, narcissism and the attitude towards conspicuous consumption. Psihologija, 47 (1), 113−129. doi:10.2298/PSI1401113V
Wang, Y., & Griskevicius, V. (2014). Conspicuous consumption, relationships, and rivals: Women’s luxury products as signals to other women. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(5), 834−854. doi:10.1086/673256.
West−Eberhard, M. J. (1979). Sexual selection, social competition and evolution.
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 123(4), 222−234.
Wirtz, J., & Kum, D. (2004). Consumer cheating on service guarantees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(2), 159−175. doi:10.1177%2F0092070303261416
Wisman, J. D. (2009). Household saving, class identity and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Economic Issues, 52, 89–114. doi: 10.2753/JEI0021– 3624430105
Zahavi, A. (1975). Mate selection a selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 53(1), 205-214.
Zuckerman, S. (2007). Slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meet and drinking wine: feasting in bronze age Hazor. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 139, 186– 204. doi: 10.1179/003103207x227319
Zuroff, D. C., Fournier, M. A., Patall, E. A., & Leybman, M. J. (2010). Steps toward an evolutionary personality psychology: Individual differences in the social rank domain. Canadian Psychology, 51, 58−66. doi:10.1037/a0018472
Al−Khatib, J. A., D’Auria Stanton, A., & Rawwas, M. Y. (2005). Ethical segmentation of consumers in developing countries: A comparative analysis. International Marketing Review, 22(2), 225−246. doi:10.1108/02651330510593287
Axelrod, R., & Hamilton, W. D. (1981). The evolution of cooperation. Science, 211, 1390–1396. doi:10.1126/science.7466396
Bailey, D. H., & Geary, D. C. (2009). Hominid brain evolution: testing climatic, ecological, and social competition models. Human Nature, 20, 67–79. doi:10.1007/ s12110−008−9054
Bates, L. A., & Byrne, R. W. (2015). Primate social cognition: what we have learned from nonhuman primates and other animals. In M., Mikulincer, P. R. Shaver, & J. A. Borgida (Eds.), APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology, Volume 1: Attitudes and social cognition (pp. 47−78). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/14344−000
Bloch, F., Rao, V., & Desai, S. (2004). Wedding celebrations as conspicuous consumption: signaling social status in rural India. Journal of Human Resources, 39, 675–695. doi: 10.2307/3558992
Bodey, K., & Grace, D. (2007). Contrasting “complainers” with “non-complainers” on attitude toward complaining, propensity to complain, and key personality characteristics: A nomological look. Psychology & Marketing, 24(7), 579−594. doi:10.1002/mar.20174
Book, A., Visser, B. A., & Volk, A. A. (2015). Unpacking “evil”: Claiming the core of the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 29−38. doi:10.1016/j. paid.2014.09.016
Calzi, R., & Corno, P. (2007). Gypsy architecture: houses of the Roma in Eastern Europe. Stuttgart, Germany: Edition Axel Menge.
Christie, R., & Geis, F. L. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
Cowlishaw, G., & Dunbar, R. I. (1991). Dominance rank and mating success in male primates. Animal Behaviour, 41(6), 1045−1056. doi:10.1016/ S0003−3472(05)80642−6
Darwin, C. (1871). The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: John Murray.
De Fraja, G. (2009). The origin of utility: Sexual selection and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 72(1), 51−69. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.019.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1998). The social brain hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology, 6, 178–190. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520−6505.
Egan, V., Hughes, N., & Palmer, E. J. (2015). Moral disengagement, the Dark Triad, and unethical consumer attitudes. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 123−128.
Fehr, E., & Gachter, S. (2002). Altruistic punishment in humans. Nature, 415, 137– 140. doi:10.1038/415137a
Furnham, A., Richards, S. C., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The Dark Triad of personality: A 10 year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(3), 199−216. doi:10.1111/spc3.12018
Gentile, B., Campbell, W. K., & Twenge, J. M. (2014). Generational cultures. In A. B. Cohen (Ed.), Culture reexamined: Broadening our understanding of social and evolutionary influences (pp. 31−48). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
Gordon, L. V. (1960). SRA manual for Survey of Interpersonal Values. Chicago: Science Research Assoc.
Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., Sundie, J. M., Cialdini, R. B., Miller, G. F., & Kenrick, D. T. (2007). Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: when romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 85–102. doi:10.1037/0022−3514.93.1.85
Johnstone, R. A. (1997). The evolution of animal signals. In: J. R. Krebs, & N. B. Davies (Eds.), Behavioural Ecology: an Evolutionary Approach, 4th Edition (pp. 155–178). Oxford: Blackwell Science.
Johnstone, R. A. (2002). Signalling of need, sibling competition, and the cost of signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 96, 12644−12649.
Jonason P. K., & Webster G. D. (2012). A protean approach to social influence: Dark Triad Personalities and Social Influence Tactics. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(4), 521–526. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.023
Jonason, P. K., Li, N. P., Webster, G. W., & Schmitt, D. P. (2009). The Dark Triad: Facilitating short−term mating in men. European Journal of Personality, 23, 5−18. doi:10.1002/per.698
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2009). Machiavellianism. In M. R. Leary, & R. H. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of Individual Differences in Social Behavior (pp. 257−27). New York/London: The Guilford Press.
Lee, K., & Ashton, M. C. (2014). The Dark Triad, the Big Five, and the HEXACO model. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 2−5. doi:10.1016/j. paid.2014.01.048
Lee, K., Ashton, M. C., Wiltshire, J., Bourdage, J. S., Visser, B. A., & Gallucci, A. (2013). Sex, power, and money: Prediction from the Dark Triad and Honesty–Humility. European Journal of Personality, 27(2), 169−184. doi:10.1002/per.1860
Majstorović, N. (1998). Interpersonalne vrednosti i socijalni status [Interpersonal values and social status]. Psihologija, 31(1−2), 67−78.
Mitić, A., Petrović, I., & Đurić, V. (2017). Role of Conspicuous consumption in social interaction and perception. Teme, 41(4), 951−963. doi:10.22190/TEME1704951M
Mitić, A., Velov, B., & Đurić, V. (2010). Stav prema upadljivoj potrošnji i interpersonalne vrednosti kod mladih [Attitude towards conspicuous consumption and interpersonal values among young people]. Zbornik radova sa Međunarodnog naučnog skupa „Društveni izazovi evropskih integracija − Srbija i uporedna iskustva“, 105−113. Novi Sad: USEE.
Nelissen, R. M. A., & Meijers, M. H. C. (2011). Social benefits of luxury brands as costly signals of wealth and status. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32, 343– 355. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.12.002.
O’Cass, A., & Frost, H. (2002). Status brands: examining the effects of non-productrelated brand associations on status and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 11(2), 67-88.
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of Personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 556−563. doi:10.1016/S0092−6566(02)00505−6 Pearson, R., Mundfrom, D., & Piccone, A. (2013). A Comparison of Ten Methods for Determining the Number of Factors in Exploratory Factor Analysis. Multiple Linear Regression Viewpoints, 39(1), 1-15.
Saad, G. (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Schoep, I. (2004). Assessing the role of conspicuous consumption in the middle Minoan I-II periods. Oxford Journal of Archeology, 23, 243–269. doi: 10.1111/j.1468–0092.2004.00211.x
Shen, D., & Dickson, M. A. (2001). Consumers’ acceptance of unethical clothing consumption activities: influence of cultural identification, ethnicity, and Machiavellianism. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 19(2), 76−87. doi:1 0.1177%2F0887302X0101900204
Shukla, P. (2008). Conspicuous consumption among middle age consumers: psychological and brand antecedents. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 17(1), 25−36. doi:10.1108/10610420810856495
Sundie, M. J., Griskevicius, V., Vohs, K. D., Kenrick, D. T., Tybur, J. M., & Beal, D. J. (2011). Peacocks, Porsches, and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption as a Sexual Signaling System. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100(4), 664–680. doi:10.1037/a0021669
Suzuki, A., Honma, Y., & Suga, S. (2013). Indelible distrust: memory bias toward cheaters revealed as high persistence against extinction. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(6), 1901–1913. doi:10.1037/a0033335
Veblen, T. (1902). The Theory of the Leisure Class: an Economic Study of Institutions. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Velov, B., Gojković, V., & Đurić, V. (2014). Materialism, narcissism and the attitude towards conspicuous consumption. Psihologija, 47 (1), 113−129. doi:10.2298/PSI1401113V
Wang, Y., & Griskevicius, V. (2014). Conspicuous consumption, relationships, and rivals: Women’s luxury products as signals to other women. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(5), 834−854. doi:10.1086/673256.
West−Eberhard, M. J. (1979). Sexual selection, social competition and evolution.
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 123(4), 222−234.
Wirtz, J., & Kum, D. (2004). Consumer cheating on service guarantees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(2), 159−175. doi:10.1177%2F0092070303261416
Wisman, J. D. (2009). Household saving, class identity and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Economic Issues, 52, 89–114. doi: 10.2753/JEI0021– 3624430105
Zahavi, A. (1975). Mate selection a selection for a handicap. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 53(1), 205-214.
Zuckerman, S. (2007). Slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meet and drinking wine: feasting in bronze age Hazor. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 139, 186– 204. doi: 10.1179/003103207x227319
Zuroff, D. C., Fournier, M. A., Patall, E. A., & Leybman, M. J. (2010). Steps toward an evolutionary personality psychology: Individual differences in the social rank domain. Canadian Psychology, 51, 58−66. doi:10.1037/a0018472
