A Moral Virtue Theory of Status Attainment

Recognition has grown that moral behavior (e.g., generosity) plays a role in status attainment, yet

it remains unclear how, why, and when demonstrating moral characteristics enhances status.

Drawing on philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and organizational behavior, I critically

review a third route to attaining status: virtue, and propose a moral virtue theory of status

attainment to provide a generalized account of the role of morality in status attainment. The

moral virtue theory posits that acts of virtue elicit feelings of warmth and admiration (for virtue),

and willing deference, towards the virtuous actor. I further consider how the scope and priority

of moralities and virtues endorsed by a moral community are bound by culture to affect which

moral characteristics enhance status. In particular, I theorize that virtues pertaining to community

(e.g., humility) and divinity (e.g., cleanliness) are more effective to attain status in collectivistic

cultures; whereas virtues pertaining to autonomy (e.g., rights) are more effective to attain status

in individualistic cultures. Four experimental studies were conducted to examine the proposed

theory. Studies 1 to 3 found that demonstrating a variety of virtues, including humility,

cleanliness, and (advocating for human) rights, elicited admiration for virtue, which in turn led a

virtuous actor to attain status. Expressing humility and cleanliness was more effective in

attaining status in a collectivistic culture (India) than in an individualistic culture (the U.S.).

Importantly, the positive impact of virtues on status attainment generally did not depend on the

virtuous actor's levels of competence. Study 4 showed that expressing humility led people to see

the humble actor as a more desirable leader and to be influenced by the humble actor in a

collaborative cognitive task. Humility and cultural self-construals interacted to affect the actor's

status through admiration for virtue. Specifically, individuals with high interdependent selfconstruals

admired humility to a greater degree than those with low interdependent self