Self-Presentational Responses to Success in the Organization: The Costs and Benefits of Modesty

Abstract

The effectiveness of modesty as a self-presentational tactic in the organization was expected to be influenced by both the gender of the self-presenter and the characteristics of the evaluator. Participants read about a successful employee who responded to a recent achievement using either a low, moderate, or highly modest presentational strategy. Although boastful presenters were always least effective, the effectiveness of moderate and highly modest presenters depended on two additional factors. Highly modest self-presenters were favored over moderate ones when the self-presenter was female, and when the evaluators were co-workers. Alternatively, moderate modesty was favored over high modesty when the self-presenter was male, or when the evaluator was a manager.