{"id":779,"date":"2023-07-03T07:05:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T03:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2023-07-03T07:05:37","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T03:05:37","slug":"can-you-pull-off-modesty-as-a-social-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/03\/can-you-pull-off-modesty-as-a-social-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Pull Off Modesty as a Social Strategy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
‘Modesty’ <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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Modesty<\/i> is showing restraint in the appreciation of oneself and of one’s qualities. <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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In literature,\u00a0modesty<\/i> is unpretentiousness in the expression of feelings. <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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Modesty<\/i>\u00a0is the color of virtue.<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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There are several explanations\u00a0going around but the above is a reasonable\u00a0summa summarum<\/i>\u00a0of what\u00a0modesty<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is. We get the message.<\/div>\n
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Impressions matter in life. Whether it’s a client meeting, an office get together, a first date, a job interview, how others perceive us, can define or destroy our goals. That being said, in a team setting where cooperation and collaboration is the rote, display of luxury items be it watches, bags, shoes, cars or any such could actually be a party pooper. Especially if they are done with the intent to enhance and communicate social status.<\/div>\n
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Recent research published in the Journal of<\/em> <\/strong>Personality and Social Psychology<\/strong> ( Deborah Small | Alixandra Barasch | Shalena Srna<\/strong>) <\/i>says that when an individual uses luxury goods, the person is perceived as someone out to boost his|her own social value and hence selfish and a poor team player. As a result, they are less likely to inspire cooperation or be chosen by others for their teams. By contrast, in competitive situations, the same ostentatious person is often favored over more modest rivals.<\/div>\n
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Yes, The Devil indeed wears Prada<\/span><\/i>. ‘ <\/span>Conspicuous consumption<\/em><\/span> ‘ was a term coined by Sociologist Thorstein Veblen<\/strong> in 1899 to describe people acquiring luxury goods and services not just for their superior quality but also as a visible sign of their wealth and status.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Status<\/span><\/i> is a potent weapon for determining and influencing consumer behavior and the pursuit of status is highly valued in cultures that are characterized by hierarchy<\/em> and tradition<\/em>. This is the consumer insight that is leveraged by brands like\u00a0Louis Vuitton<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0Burberry<\/b>\u00a0and the insignia display of\u00a0LV<\/b>\u00a0or the\u00a0Plaid<\/b> is used unabashedly. Ostentatious consumers tend to be seen as more arrogant, less warm, and even less moral. The Devil Wears Prada<\/span> <\/i>is fictional but the association between luxury spenders and emotional frostiness is very real. <\/span><\/div>\n
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Context<\/b>\u00a0has a big role to play here. Name dropping, fancy clothes etc would be helpful in winning negotiations but where teamwork and cooperation is the call of the hour,\u00a0modesty\u00a0<\/i>is a better approach. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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The same Sociologist Veblen<\/strong> also coined the term ” conspicuous compassion “<\/em><\/span>. Status signalling<\/em> is not just about overtly displaying wealth or career success. It can come in the form of green credentials, altruism, being a rebel or a contrarian, or being cool, depending on which circle you are seen in and want to influence.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Being sincerely modest is not easy, because there is a great temptation to fall into falsehood. The playwright\u00a0Prosper Jolyot de Crais-Billon<\/b>\u00a0(1707-1777) said: “Of all the virtues, the one which, in the world, always seemed to me to succeed least to the one who practices it, is modesty<\/i><\/span>.” While the poet\u00a0Pierre Reverdy\u00a0<\/b>(1889-1960) added: “The best thing about modesty is the intelligence that must be deployed to stick to it<\/i><\/span>“.<\/div>\n
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There is a very close link between modesty<\/strong> and humility<\/strong>, but the line is a fine one. It would be tempting to see modesty only as a social convention<\/span>, while humility would be truth in itself<\/span>. <\/em><\/div>\n
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So, if status signaling<\/strong> is the intent, pay attention to context<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span>Modesty Blaise\u00a0<\/span><\/i>anyone? <\/span><\/em><\/em><\/div>\n
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Tempted to offer a link here to an old article from <\/span>BrandKnew<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on<\/span> “ The Braggart’s Dilemma: How to Promote Yourself Without Being a Jerk<\/span><\/strong><\/a> “.<\/span><\/em><\/em><\/div>\n
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ENDS<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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‘Modesty’ Modesty is showing restraint in the appreciation of oneself and of one’s qualities. In literature,\u00a0modesty is unpretentiousness in the expression of feelings. Modesty\u00a0is the color of virtue. There are several explanations\u00a0going around but the above is a reasonable\u00a0summa summarum\u00a0of what\u00a0modesty\u00a0is. We get the message. Impressions matter in life. Whether it’s a client meeting, an … Continue reading “Can You Pull Off Modesty as a Social Strategy?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[186,49,1611,1607,44,1617,357,1136,497,1605,1596,1615,1614,1616,755,1613,1612,1609,1594,1597,1603,1610,1602,1598,1600,1595,1604,1601,1599,1618,1608,1606,1098,1199],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-attention","tag-brandknew","tag-brans","tag-burberry","tag-collaboration","tag-consumer-insight","tag-context","tag-cooperation","tag-culture","tag-hierarchy","tag-humility","tag-impressions","tag-journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology","tag-literature","tag-louis-vuitton","tag-luxury-brands","tag-luxury-goods","tag-lv","tag-modesty","tag-modesty-blaise","tag-pierre-reverdy","tag-plaid","tag-prosper-jolyot-de-crais-billon","tag-social-convention","tag-social-status","tag-social-strategy","tag-sociologist-thorstein-veblen","tag-status-signaling","tag-team-player","tag-teamwork","tag-the-devil-wears-prada","tag-tradition","tag-truth","tag-wealth"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}