Palin and the Politics of Pride
Love her or hate her – and those appear to be the only two options – there are few politicians who seem to evoke the same intensity of emotion as Sarah Palin. The question, though, is why?
The reason cannot solely be her political views, as there are numerous Democrats and Republicans, many of whom are as equally polarizing in their respective positions as the former Alaska governor, for partisans on each side to admire and despise. Nor can the reason be only greater media coverage. Many politicians have more frequent exposure on the talk show circuit than the press-dodging Ms. Palin. Few, however, strike the same physical aspect on the trail.
On each stop of her “One Nation” Bus Tour, images of Sarah Palin, standing akimbo with chin held high, aside ever changing cherished icons of American history, called forth a bipolar visceral response from people. For a portion of the populace, these images and sound bites show a leader in the making – someone who by her sheer talents and willingness to set her own rules is worthy of admiration. Yet for a different portion, these same pictures and interviews portray a poser – someone who due to a lack of talents and self-indulgent manner qualifies only for disdain. But on an intuitive level, her silhouette signals one thing to our minds – pride. And when it comes to deciding whom to follow or whom to flog, pride seems to be a central factor.
The expression of pride has a bit of a bad reputation. Not only is it one of the proverbial Seven Deadly Sins; it is the most deadly. Yet, if pride is truly so maladaptive, why do we see it shown by some of our would-be leaders? If it is such a sin, why, sometimes, is it just so attractive? The answer lies in its relation to leadership, and nowhere is the double-edged sword of pride more on display than in the ultimate arena of power: politics.
Humans, like most social animals, need to decode the status hierarchy in which we find ourselves. We need to know who is a leader and who is not – who we should support and who we should ignore. One way to do this, of course, is to rely on a reasoned analysis of people’s abilities and successes. The other way to do it is to trust our intuitions. But our intuitions, for better or worse, are often based on subtle cues.
In the case of pride, work by Jessica Tracy and her colleagues has shown that the cues most associated with pride are exactly the ones we see in politicians like Gov. Palin: head held high, erect spine and expanded chest, and hands often pumping high or resting on hips. As strange as it may seem, so deeply are these pride cues embedded in the mind that even those who have been blind from birth (and thus who never could have seen the cues displayed by others) display them upon a major achievement. And so deeply do these cues affect us that, in the absence of any reason to disbelieve a person’s abilities who shows pride, we not only are willing to follow them, but to like them. In fact, as we have shown in our lab, simply inducing people to feel proud over any ability, no matter how trivial, accords them a special status. When they subsequently partake in a group task, the others who join them, for no reason they can verbally explain, not only let the proud individual lead the group, but also report liking these people more than any other group members. Pride, in short, can be good and make people want to follow you.
But then why do many people cringe at Palin’s name? It is because we hate being duped. It is bad enough not being the leader, but when the leader is shown to be unworthy (at least subjectively so to some), that is the unforgivable sin. Consequently, when some people view Palin’s halting responses in the now infamous Katie Couric interview, or her recent description of Paul Revere’s Ride as one to warn the British, as evidence of ineptitude, their view of her character slips hard and fast toward vice. She became guilty of hubris, and like Icarus, is going to take a lot of heat.
This is the danger of pride in politics, and most anywhere else. Pride itself can be a noble and attractive quality. But when any hint of doubt – of posing – arises, the decline in one’s public approval can be steep and irreversible. Pride goes before the fall, so the proverbs say. And when, as is the case in politics, half of the populace is always looking for any misstep, it becomes very difficult, as Sarah Palin is finding out, for one’s poll numbers not to follow.
On each stop of her “One Nation” Bus Tour, images of Sarah Palin, standing akimbo with chin held high, aside ever changing cherished icons of American history, called forth a bipolar visceral response from people. For a portion of the populace, these images and sound bites show a leader in the making – someone who by her sheer talents and willingness to set her own rules is worthy of admiration. Yet for a different portion, these same pictures and interviews portray a poser – someone who due to a lack of talents and self-indulgent manner qualifies only for disdain. But on an intuitive level, her silhouette signals one thing to our minds – pride. And when it comes to deciding whom to follow or whom to flog, pride seems to be a central factor.
The expression of pride has a bit of a bad reputation. Not only is it one of the proverbial Seven Deadly Sins; it is the most deadly. Yet, if pride is truly so maladaptive, why do we see it shown by some of our would-be leaders? If it is such a sin, why, sometimes, is it just so attractive? The answer lies in its relation to leadership, and nowhere is the double-edged sword of pride more on display than in the ultimate arena of power: politics.
Humans, like most social animals, need to decode the status hierarchy in which we find ourselves. We need to know who is a leader and who is not – who we should support and who we should ignore. One way to do this, of course, is to rely on a reasoned analysis of people’s abilities and successes. The other way to do it is to trust our intuitions. But our intuitions, for better or worse, are often based on subtle cues.
In the case of pride, work by Jessica Tracy and her colleagues has shown that the cues most associated with pride are exactly the ones we see in politicians like Gov. Palin: head held high, erect spine and expanded chest, and hands often pumping high or resting on hips. As strange as it may seem, so deeply are these pride cues embedded in the mind that even those who have been blind from birth (and thus who never could have seen the cues displayed by others) display them upon a major achievement. And so deeply do these cues affect us that, in the absence of any reason to disbelieve a person’s abilities who shows pride, we not only are willing to follow them, but to like them. In fact, as we have shown in our lab, simply inducing people to feel proud over any ability, no matter how trivial, accords them a special status. When they subsequently partake in a group task, the others who join them, for no reason they can verbally explain, not only let the proud individual lead the group, but also report liking these people more than any other group members. Pride, in short, can be good and make people want to follow you.
But then why do many people cringe at Palin’s name? It is because we hate being duped. It is bad enough not being the leader, but when the leader is shown to be unworthy (at least subjectively so to some), that is the unforgivable sin. Consequently, when some people view Palin’s halting responses in the now infamous Katie Couric interview, or her recent description of Paul Revere’s Ride as one to warn the British, as evidence of ineptitude, their view of her character slips hard and fast toward vice. She became guilty of hubris, and like Icarus, is going to take a lot of heat.
This is the danger of pride in politics, and most anywhere else. Pride itself can be a noble and attractive quality. But when any hint of doubt – of posing – arises, the decline in one’s public approval can be steep and irreversible. Pride goes before the fall, so the proverbs say. And when, as is the case in politics, half of the populace is always looking for any misstep, it becomes very difficult, as Sarah Palin is finding out, for one’s poll numbers not to follow.
