Failure as an asset for high-status persons - relative group performance and attributed occupational success

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

According to research on social identity theory and on prescriptive norms and stereotypes people are viewed as prototypical of a group to the extent that they possess ingroup characteristics but not outgroup characteristics. Following this assumption, even failure might have positive effects for high-status persons when they underperform in low-status domains. In this case, individual failure may be viewed as indicative of strong prototypicality for the high-status group and therefore lead to the attribution of future occupational success. Five experiments, using different high- and low-status groups, confirmed the hypothesis that people will attribute high occupational success to high-status persons who allegedly scored poorly on an achievement test in which a low-status group in general excelled relative to a high-status group. This effect was shown to be mediated by the attribution of prototypicality for the high-status group.

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• Extent: Seite(n): 501-518
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Postprint; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(3)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Psychologie ; Sozialpsychologie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Reinhard, Marc-André ; Stahlberg, Dagmar ; Messner, Matthias
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
• (when): 2008

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2007.07.006
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-243382
• Rights: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln