When modesty wins: Impression management through modesty, political skill, and career success—a...

Modesty and Career Success 1

Running head: MODESTY AND CAREER SUCCESS

When Modesty Wins: Impression Management through Modesty, Political Skill, and Career

Success: A Two-Study Investigation

Gerhard Blickle, Corinna Diekmann, Paula B. Schneider, Yvonne Kalthöfer

University of Bonn

and

James K. Summers

Bradley University

Blickle, G., Diekmann, C., Schneider, P. B., Kalthöfer, Y., & Summers, J. (2012). When

modesty wins: Impression management through modesty, political skill, and career success:

A two-study investigation. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 21,

899-922. DOI 10.1080/1359432X.2011.603900.

(06-22-11) accepted for publication by

European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

A previous version of this paper was presented at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Conference 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Gerald R. Ferris for his thorough and insightful comments on a previous draft of this paper and to the German Research Foundation (DFG) which supported this research (Az: Bl 385, 6-2). Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to: Gerhard Blickle, Arbeits-, Organisations- und Wirtschaftspsychologie, Institut fuer Psychologie, Universitaet Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111 Bonn, Fon: +49 228 734375, Fax: +49 228 734670, E-mail: [email protected]


Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of employees’ upward self-

presentation through modesty and political skill on their subsequent career success. Study 1

used a predictive design over a three year period with 141 employees, controlling for age,

gender, and self-esteem. Political skill positively moderated the relationship between

employees’ upward modesty and career success (attained position, career satisfaction) after

three years. Study 2 (n = 132 employees) provided construct validation, demonstrating high

discriminant validity of the impression management through modesty scale used in Study 1

with a trait-modesty scale, thus attenuating rival explanations of the findings in Study 1.

Implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.

Key words: Self-presentation, Modesty, Political Skill, Career Success


When Modesty Wins: Impression Management through Modesty, Political Skill, and Career

Success: A Two-Study Investigation

Modesty has been researched as a norm varying between collectivistic and

individualistic cultures (Chen, Bond, Chan, Tang, & Buchtel, 2009), as a personality trait

(Costa & McCrae, 1992) represented in the trait word lexicon of ordinary language (Ashton

et al., 2004), and as a self-presentational tactic to create favourable social images (Cialdini &

De Nicholas, 1989; Tetlock, 1980; Wosinska, Dabul, Whetstone-Dion, & Cialdini, 1996).

However, the present research focuses on the acquisitive impression management perspective

of modesty. Defined as “the underrepresentation of one’s positive traits, contributions,

expectations, or accomplishments,” (Cialdini & De Nicholas, 1989, p. 626), modesty is based

on cultural norms and stereotypes (Chen et al., 2009; Tetlock, 1980; Wosinska et al., 1996),

and is aimed at creating favourable social images and a positive reputation (Hogan, 1996;

Hogan & Shelton, 1998).

Acquisitive impression management through modesty potentially contributes to early

career employees ability to avoid interpersonal conflict with established organizational

members, by not appearing arrogant, self-satisfied, or conceited (Cialdini & De Nicholas,

1989). For early career employees, acquisitive impression management through modesty also

stimulates help and support from more experienced employees, as acting modestly causes

early career employees to appear more personable and likable (Wosinska et al., 1996). This

enhances the development of early career employees’ work related skills and their perceived

contextual performance (Van Scotter & Motowidlo, 1996). Thus, over several years, the

cumulated effects of acquisitive impression management through modesty can result in

higher career success for early career employees.

However, unlike other self-presentational tactics, such as self-promotion and

ingratiation (Bolino & Turnley, 1999; Jones & Pittman, 1982), self-presentation through


modesty has received little attention in organizational psychology. As with other self-

presentation tactics, the effectiveness of these tactics and the achievement of goals also

depend on actors’ social skill (Harris, Kacmar, Zivnuska, & Shaw, 2007; Hogan & Shelton,

1998; Kolodinsky, Treadway, & Ferris, 2007; Treadway, Ferris, Duke, Adams, & Thatcher,

2007; Turnley & Bolino, 2001). Therefore, we investigate the enhancing role of social skill

on the effects of self-presentation through modesty.

Furthermore, previous research (e.g., Cialdini & De Nicholas, 1989; Tetlock, 1980;

Tice, Butler, Muraven, & Stillwell, 1995; Wosinska et al., 1996) utilized college samples and

written vignettes to investigate self-presentation through modesty in the workplace (cf. for

one exception, Blickle, Schneider, Perrewé, Blass, & Ferris, 2008). However, college

students may not share the same perceptions as managers and co-workers in a workplace

setting (Wosinska et al., 1996), a concern that can be addressed in field studies. Next,

previous studies only have examined the immediate effects of modesty on impression

formation (i.e., ratings of competence and likeability; Tetlock, 1980) and willingness to

support others (Wosinska et al., 1996) in laboratory settings. Only one study has examined

the effects of impression management through modesty on helping behaviours and support in

actual organizational settings (Blickle et al., 2008). However, no research to date examines

the long-term effects of self-presentation through modesty on career success in real

organizational settings.

Therefore, the purpose of the present research is to analyze the moderating role of

social skill on the upward self-presentation through modesty (i.e., modesty shown toward

superiors)—career success relationship. Study 1 is a three year predictive field study. Study 2

tests the construct validity of the self-presentation through modesty scale used in Study 1,

thereby examining alternative interpretations of the findings in Study 1 (i.e., trait-modesty

versus impression management through modesty).


Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development

Career Success

Previous research (Inkson, 2004; Perlmutter & Hall, 1992) has characterized a career

as a person’s upward occupational moves through a series of positions that require greater

mastery and responsibility, and that provide increasing financial return (see Inkson, 2004 for

a comprehensive discussion of recent career concepts). Career success, then, can be defined

as the real or perceived achievements individuals have accumulated as a result of their work

experiences (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, & Barrick, 1999). These authors partitioned career

success into extrinsic (e.g., pay, attainment of high status) and intrinsic (e.g., career or job

satisfaction) components.

Careers can be studied through the lens of impression management (Inkson, 2004).

Impression management through self-promotion (e.g. exaggerating the degree of one’s

success or attributing one’s success to internal factors, such as ability or effort) and acting

modestly appear to be opposed. Previous studies on impression management in organizations

have shown that self-promotion tactics do not contribute to an enhanced reputation for

competence, but instead damage interpersonal relationships (Chen et al., 2009; Higgins,

Judge, & Ferris, 2003). Thus, impression management through self-promotion does not

contribute to career success, because it negatively impacts reputation and interpersonal

relationships. Self-presentation though modesty, however, appears to be another viable

impression management lens for which career success can be investigated.

Self-Presentation through modesty

Employees wishing to overcome the self-presentational problems associated with self-

promotion can use modesty tactics of self-presentation (Cialdini & De Nicholas, 1989, p.

626): “By slightly understating one’s positive characteristics one can manage one’s image in

an adroit fashion that increases liking, preserves high levels of perceived competence, and


does no damage to attributions of honesty.” Tetlock (1980) experimentally demonstrated that

teachers who denied taking credit for their pupils’ good performance were rated more

competent and more likeable by college students than teachers who accepted responsibility

for their pupils’ good performance. Further, Wosinska et al. (1996) found that successful

employees received more willing support from others (i.e., as rated by college students) when

those successful employees responded modestly, rather than boastfully, to achievement. If

these effects also hold in natural settings, the competent use of modesty as an impression

management tactic should increase an employees’ reputation for likeability and competence,

and should elicit support from others.

Previous research (Judge & Bretz, 1994; Wayne, Liden, Graf, & Ferris, 1997) in

human resource management has demonstrated that liking and trusting of target persons

increases benevolence and generosity toward these persons, and results in higher levels of

career success of the target persons. However, self-presentation through modesty is a tricky

business. Cialdini and De Nicholas (1989) suggested that one must be modest only about a

strength or success, because accepting responsibility for poor performance leads to reduced

liking and lowered perceptions of competence and self-confidence (Tetlock, 1980).

Self presentation through modesty only has a positive effect for target persons if the

positive characteristics or positive qualities of target persons are easily verifiable (Jones &

Pitman, 1982). The appropriate level of modesty also depends on gender stereotypes and

interpersonal power relations (Wosinka et al., 1996). Furthermore, empirical findings show

that high levels of modest self-presentation can backfire. Individuals easily can be

categorized by observers as perfunctory or shallow, while false modesty often generates a

sense of ulterior motives (Chen et al., 2009; Tetlock, 1980; Wosinka et al., 1996). Thus,

successful self-presentation through modesty requires high social skill.


Social Skill in Organizations

Hogan and Shelton (1998) convincingly argued that interpersonal intentions need

social skill or effectiveness to be successful. As with other self-presentation tactics, the

achievement of goals depends on the audience, apt timing, the correct language-style, and the

appropriate non-verbal execution. Empirical research has supported the idea that socially

skilled individuals are better able to choose appropriate facial expressions, hand gestures,

body postures, voice textures, and other paralinguistic cues (Gangestad & Snyder, 2000;

Klein, De Rouin, & Salas, 2006). Thus, the intention of appearing modest is not sufficient.

One also has to possess the respective social skill to effectively execute the behaviour as

intended.

The political skill construct refers to social skill at the workplace (Ferris, Treadway et

al., 2005). It combines social understanding with the ability to adjust behaviour to the

demands of the situation in ways that inspire trust, confidence, and support, appear genuine,

and effectively influence others (Ferris, Treadway et al., 2007). Political skill has been shown

to facilitate the effectiveness of influence tactics on performance outcomes (e.g., Harris et al.,

2007; Treadway et al., 2007), to moderate the relationship between the motives to get along

and ahead and job performance ratings (Blickle et al., 2008, 2011; Witt & Ferris, 2003), and

to serve as an antidote to the strain reactions from stressors (e.g., Perrewé et al., 2004).

Politically skilled persons enhance their personal and/or organizational goals through

their understanding and influence of others via social interactions at work (Jawahar, Meurs,

Ferris, & Hochwarter, 2008). The social astuteness of politically skilled individuals provides

them with a keen awareness of both self and others, which gives them the capacity to

calibrate and adjust their behaviour to different and changing contexts. This astuteness and

contextual adaptability allow politically skilled individuals to wield a great deal of

interpersonal influence, because their influence attempts are not perceived as such. Instead,


they appear to possess high levels of genuineness and integrity (Ferris, Treadway et al.,

2007), which help them to gain the trust and confidence of those with whom they interact.

This set of mutually reinforcing competencies allows politically skilled individuals to

develop positive images and reputation.

Based upon this reasoning and empirical findings, it is postulated that individuals with

high political skill present themselves more effectively through modesty than individuals

with low political skill, and subsequently will have more career success. Specifically, for

persons high on political skill, higher levels of self presentation through modesty are

associated with higher hierarchical position (i.e. higher organizational rank) and higher career

satisfaction. For persons low on political skill, higher levels of self presentation through

modesty will be associated with lower hierarchical position and lower career satisfaction,

because they tend to appear as perfunctory, shallow, or incompetent.

Hypothesis 1: There will be a positive interaction between employee’s impression

management through modesty and political skill on subsequent career success. For

employees high in political skill, increases in impression management through

modesty will be associated with higher subsequent hierarchical position. For

employees with low political skill, increases in impression management through

modesty will be associated with lower subsequent hierarchical position.

Hypothesis 2: There will be a positive interaction between employee’s impression

management through modesty and political skill on subsequent career satisfaction.

For employees high in political skill, increases in impression management through

modesty will be associated with higher subsequent career satisfaction. For employees

with low political skill, increases in impression management through modesty will be

associated with lower subsequent career satisfaction.


Plan of the Research

Two studies were conducted. In order to test the hypotheses, Study 1 was a predictive

study with a three year time interval. Study 2 was a validation study, which was conducted to

mitigate rival explanations (i.e., trait-modesty versus impression management through

modesty) for the hypotheses in Study 1.

Study 1: Method

Plan of the Research

The data in Study 1 were collected as part of a larger longitudinal study on career

development of employees in managerial jobs (Blickle et al., 2008), with a time span of three

years including three waves of data collection. Wave 2 was collected two years after wave 1,

and wave 3 was collected three years after wave 1. Participating employees were asked how

often they use impression management through modesty in self-presentation toward

supervisors and managers. At the time of the first wave, a validated German translation of the

Political Skill Inventory (PSI; Ferris, Treadway et al., 2005) was not yet available. As we

planned the study with a three year perspective, we decided to translate and validate the PSI,

and employ it in the second wave. This validation of the German PSI was successful (Blickle

et al., 2008), so we used it in the second wave, while measuring career success in the third

wave.

Sample and Procedure

With the help of the alumni networks from different business schools in Germany, the

authors contacted former Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) or Masters of Business

Administration (MBA) students who had graduated at least three years earlier. The former

students were sent questionnaires and prepaid return envelopes. Due to moves and address

changes, involuntary unemployment caused by the economic recession, and voluntary


unemployment caused by the birth of children, it was impossible to calculate the return rate

among employees.

We had complete data sets (i.e., all three waves) from 37 female and 104 male

employees. Mean age was 33.3 years (SD = 5.11 years). The attrition rate from the first

through the third wave of data collection was 62%. However, the sample in the third wave

did not differ (t-tests) from the sample in wave 1 with respect to age, position, or gender

proportion (χ²-test).

Measures

Impression Management through Modesty. Because previous studies on the effects of

self-presentation through modesty have experimentally manipulated modesty, no self-

presentation through modesty scale was available. In addition, self-presentation through

modesty is not a personality trait for which measures would have been available (Costa &

McCrae, 1992; Asthon & Lee, 2005). Therefore, Blickle et al. (2008) developed and

validated a self-presentation through modesty scale, which has substantial self-other

correlations and acceptable test-retest reliability (r = .63) over two years. The test-retest

reliability is acceptable, because it is in line with theoretical expectations. It indicates that it is

a stable tactic, but at the same time, reliability is not as high as one would expect it to be if it

was a stable personality trait. The scale comprised four items, namely “I act very modestly”,

“I blow my horn” (reverse scored), “I make no big fuss about my performance,” and “I

refrain from self-praise.” The instructions asked to describe how the employees acted toward

senior managers. The Likert-type response format ranged from “never” (0) to “always” (8).

In the first wave, the Cronbach’s Alpha value was α = .62.

Political skill. Political skill was measured with the German translation (Blickle et al.,

2008) of the Political Skill Inventory (PSI; Ferris, Treadway et al., 2005). It is comprised of

18 items. Sample items are: “At work, I know a lot of important people and am well


connected,” “I understand people very well”, “I am able to communicate easily and

effectively with others,” and “I try to show a genuine interest in other people.” Items were

responded on a 7-point Likert-type agreement scale. In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha

(α) for the PSI was .91.

Career success. To measure hierarchical position, based on Ferris et. al. (2008),

employees were asked to report their current hierarchical position (100% = “top”, 0% =

“bottom”) within their present company three years after measuring self-presentation through

modesty. Career satisfaction also was assessed three years after measuring self-presentation

through modesty. We used a scale by Weymann (2001) with one global and 13 specific

items, which included: satisfaction with job content, fit between job content and education,

rank attained, current income, working conditions, promotion prospects, professional

training, job security, amount of time spent working, the degree of participation, work-

family-balance, social climate in the job, and technical support in the job. The response

format of the items ranged from 1 = “very unsatisfied” to 5 = “very satisfied.” Coefficient

alpha of the career satisfaction scale was α = .84

Control variables. Gender and age were used as control variables, because of gender-

and age-role cultural stereotypes related to modesty (Chen et al., 2009). Because aspects of

the political skill scale involve the possession of a favourable self-view (Ferris et al., 2007;

Perrewé et al., 2004), we also controlled for self-esteem. We used a validated German

translation of the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965; Ferring & Filipp, 1996).

The scale comprises 10 items, and range from 0 = not at all true to 3 = completely true.

Coefficient alpha of the self-esteem scale was α = .62. The data on gender and age were

collected in wave 1, while the data of the self-esteem scale were collected in wave 2.

Statistical Analyses

Hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses (Cohen, Cohen, West & Aiken,


2003) were conducted to examine the moderating role of political skill on the modesty –

career success relationships. The predictor (i.e., modesty) and moderator (i.e., political skill)

variables were centered. Gender, age, and self-esteem were entered in the first step of the

regression analyses. In the second step, modesty and political skill were entered, thereby

extracting common method variance from the cross-product term in the next step (Cohen et

al., 2003). In the last step, the cross-product terms of modesty and political skill were entered.

Study 1: Results

Zero-Order Correlations

The means, standard deviations, and correlations of the study variables are presented

in Table 1. Modesty was not correlated with hierarchical position or career satisfaction, while

political skill, hierarchical position, and career satisfaction were positively related. Self-

esteem associated positively with political skill and hierarchical position.

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Insert Table 1 about here

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Test of Hypotheses

Tables 2 and 3 illustrate the hierarchical moderated regression results for the modesty

x political skill interaction. After all variables were entered on the first two regression steps,

the modesty x political skill interaction term demonstrated significant positive beta-weights

in predicting hierarchical position ( = .17, p < .05, ∆ R² = .028) and career satisfaction ( =

.18, p < .05, ∆ R² = .03). Consequently, these results provided support for the hypotheses 1

and 2.

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Insert Table 2 and 3 about here

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The modesty x political skill interaction term was graphically illustrated according to

the procedure proposed by Cohen et al. (2003). The regression analyses were calculated at


three points of political skill: at one standard deviation below the mean, at the mean, and at

one standard deviation above the mean. For individuals high on political skill, higher levels

of impression management through modesty were associated with higher levels of

hierarchical position. Mean level of political skill were associated with no increase in

hierarchical position. Low levels of political skill were associated with lower levels of

hierarchical position. As can be seen from Figure 1, employees high on impression

management through modesty, but low on political skill, had a hierarchical position that is

about 1.01 SD (i.e., 23%) less than employees high on both modesty and political skill.

Figure 2 represents the significant modesty x political skill interaction effect on career

satisfaction. For individuals high on political skill, higher levels of impression management

through modesty were associated with higher levels of career satisfaction. Whereas the mean

level of political skill was associated with no increase in career satisfaction, low levels of

political skill were associated with lower levels of career satisfaction. As can be seen from

Figure 2, employees high on impression management through modesty, but low on political

skill, demonstrated career satisfaction that is 0.77 SD (44%) less than employees high on both

impression management through modesty and political skill.

To test for common method variance, we conducted Harman's single factor test of the

study variables (Spector, 1994). A single factor (principal components analysis) explained

26.4% of the variance of the study variables. Three eigenvalues greater than one emerged

from the principle component analysis, and three orthogonal factors explained 58.1% of the

variance of the study variables. These findings mitigate the concerns for a common method

effect in the present data.

Neither gender nor age had effects on hierarchical position or career satisfaction after

three years. Self-esteem had a marginal positive effect (p < .10) both on hierarchical position

after three years and career satisfaction after three years. We also tested the modesty x self-


esteem-interaction effect on hierarchical position and career satisfaction after three years.

Neither interaction was significant, which mitigate rival explanations for our results.

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Insert Figure 1 and 2 about here

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Study 1: Discussion

For the first time, this investigation has tested the effect of the self-presentation tactic

of upward modesty on subsequent extrinsic and intrinsic career success after three years. As

expected, this relationship was moderated by employees’ political skill. Employees with high

impression management through modesty and high political skill had a hierarchical position

that was 23% higher than those with high modesty and low political skill, and their career

satisfaction was 0.77 SD higher than those with high modesty and low political skill.

In Study 1, we had controlled for age, gender, and self-esteem, thereby excluding rival

explanations for the findings. However, we were not yet able to rule out the possibility that

the impression management through modesty scale used in Study 1 actually measured trait-

modesty as opposed to impression management through modesty. Therefore, we conducted

Study 2 to assess the construct validity of the impression management through modesty scale

used in Study 1 compared to a trait-modesty scale.

Study 2: Plan of the Research

Study 2 proceeded in three steps. First, based on the theoretical concept of acquisitive

impression management through modesty by Cialdini and De Nicholas (1989), we developed

an item pool for impression management through modesty. Second, eight experts from social

and organizational psychology were provided with written descriptions of impression

management through modesty and trait-modesty. They were asked to independently classify

impression management through modesty items, trait-modesty items, and unrelated items into

different categories, and rate the respective category fit of each item. Third, job beginners, in


their first five years of working, were surveyed and asked to provide self-reports as to how

they behaved towards others in their work place. They were provided with the impression

management through modesty scale used in Study 1, the newly generated impression

management through modesty scale, a trait-modesty scale, and unrelated scales (i.e., self-

esteem, openness to fantasy). We expected to find convergent and discriminant validity

(Campbell & Fiske, 1959) of the impression management through modesty scale used in

Study 1 (i.e., a high positive relationship of the impression management through modesty

scale used in Study 1 and the newly minted impression management through modesty scale, a

low positive relationship between the impression management through modesty scale used in

Study 1 and the trait-modesty scale, and no significant relationships with the conceptually

unrelated scales).

Study 2: Expert validation of new impression management through modesty items

In order to ensure construct validity of the newly developed impression management

through modesty scale, an expert study was conducted (Sireci, 2003). From an impression

management perspective, modesty is characterized by “the underrepresentation of one‘s

positive traits, contributions, expectations, or accomplishments” (Cialdini & De Nicholas,

1989, p. 626), and is aimed at creating favorable images (Baumeister, 1982). Based on this

definition, the relevant literature, and existing measures of trait-modesty (e.g. Costa &

McCrae, 1992; Lee & Ashton, 2004), we developed 12 items designed to represent both the

actual modest behavior and the underlying intention of winning favour. Another seven items

were created to measure opposing concepts mirroring low impression management through

modesty. Finally, eight items measuring trait-modesty (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and 16 items

measuring the NEO-PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992) facets of openness to activity and

openness to fantasy were added to the item pool to assess discriminant validity (Campbell &

Fiske, 1959).


Eight experts were provided with written instructions, including definitions of

impression management through modesty (IMM) and trait-modesty (TM). They were asked to

independently classify each of the items into one of five categories and rate the item’s

appropriateness for this category: ‘IMM positive’, ‘IMM negative’, ‘TM positive’, ‘TM

negative’, or ‘Other’. For each item, we calculated the proportion of experts who categorized

the item as expected and the mean category appropriateness score. The IMM items that were

correctly categorized by at least five of the experts were retained for the IMM scale. These

items, the proportion of experts who categorized the item as intended, and the mean

appropriateness scores are presented in Table 4.

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As can been seen from Table 4, 19 newly minted impression management through

modesty items were categorized by at least 63% of the experts as belonging to the impression

management through modesty category, along with ratings of the category fit being above

average (M = 2.5).

Study 2: Method

Sample and Procedure

Early career employees (n = 219), in their first five years after graduating from

college, were personally contacted to take part in the study. Participation was voluntary and

participants received no financial reimbursement. One hundred and thirty two returned the

paper-and pencil questionnaire, which is a return rate of 61%, with a mean age of 28.7 years

(SD = 3.15 years). Of the participants, 45% were females. Participants worked in a broad

variety of jobs, with a mean gross income of 27,121 Euro (SD = 3,149 Euro).

Measures


Participants provided self-assessments using the impression management through

modesty scale from Study 1 (IM-modesty 4), the newly minted 19-item impression

management through modesty scale (IM-modesty 19), the Political Skill Inventory (PSI,

Ferris et al., 2005), and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Collani, G. & Herzberg, 2003).

Trait-modesty was measured with the 8-items scale from the HEXACO personality inventory

(German translation, Marcus, Lee & Ashton, 2007). The items ranged from 1 = strongly

disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Openness to fantasy was measured with the 8-items scale

from the revised NEO-PI-personality inventory by Costa and McCrae (1992; German

translation Ostendorf & Angleitner, 2004). The items ranged from 0 = strongly disagree to 4

= strongly agree.

Statistical Analyses

If the IM-modesty 4 scale measures modesty validly, it should correlate positively

both with the IM-modesty 19 scale and with the trait-modesty scale. If the IM-modesty 4

scale validly measures impression management through modesty, it should more strongly

correlate with the IM-modesty 19 scale than with the trait-modesty scale. Finally, if the IM-

modesty 4 scale validly measured impression management through modesty, it should not be

associated with self-esteem and openness to fantasy, which are unrelated to impression

management through modesty and to trait-modesty.

Study 2: Results

The means, standard deviations, and correlations of the study variables are presented

in Table 5. As can be seen from Table 5, both impression management scales (i.e., IM-

modesty 4, IM-modesty 19) had Cronbach’s alpha values above α ≥ .80. As expected the IM-

modesty 4 scale correlated positively both with IM-modesty 19 (r = .62, p < .01) and the

trait-modesty scale (r = .32, p < .01), and the positive difference between the two correlations

was highly significant (z = 3.14, p < .01). Additionally, IM-modesty 4 scale had non-


significant correlations with both self-esteem (r = -.11) and openness to fantasy (r = 12).

Finally, the trait-modesty scale did not significantly correlate with any other scale. These

findings support both the reliability and the convergent and discriminant validities of the

impression management through modesty scale (IM-modesty 4) used in Study 1 as compared

to the trait-modesty scale.

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Study 2: Discussion

The purpose of Study 2 was to validate the impression management through modesty

scale used in Study 1 (IM-modesty 4), and to mitigate rival explanations for the hypotheses in

Study 1. The findings in Study 2 clearly demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity

of the impression management through modesty scale used in Study 1, as well as the trait-

modesty scale from the HEXACO personality inventory. These findings rule out the

explanation that the construct measured by the impression management through modesty

scale used in Study 1 (IM-modesty 4) actually was trait-modesty and not impression

management through modesty. Study 2 also mitigated reliability concerns with the IM-

modesty 4 scale, which reported a very solid Cronbach’s alpha reliability score, i.e. α > .80.

General Discussion

In this paper we tested the hypothesis that acquisitive self-presentation through

modesty will have positive consequences on early employees’ career success over several

years, if skilfully executed. In a three year predictive study, we found that the more

employees presented themselves modestly toward their superiors and the more politically

skilled they were, the higher their reported hierarchical position and career satisfaction. We

found that political skill, which represents social skill at the work place (Ferris, Treadway et

al., 2005), positively moderated the self-presentation through modesty ─ career success


relationship. For employees high in political skill, increases in impression management

through modesty were associated with higher hierarchical position and higher career

satisfaction. For employees with low political skill, increases in impression management

through modesty were associated with lower hierarchical position and lower career

satisfaction.

The study variables were analysed with a principle component analysis to test for

common method variance (Harman's single factor test, Spector, 1994). Instead of one, three

orthogonal factors emerged. Thus, a common method effect does not explain the findings in

Study 1. In order to further exclude rival explanations of the effects in Study 1, we controlled

for age, gender, and individual self-esteem. Additionally, we tested in Study 1 whether self-

esteem also moderated the impression management through modesty ─ career success

relationship, which we did not find support. Thus, we can conclude that the self-report

political skill scale was not measuring a similar construct domain as self-esteem.

As Study 1 raised the concern that the IM-modesty 4 scale was in fact measuring trait-

modesty instead of impression management through modesty, we conducted Study 2 to test

the construct validity of this scale. First, based on expert ratings, a 19-item scale of

acquisitive impression management through modesty at the work place was developed. Then,

early career employees provided self-reports on the two impression management through

modesty scales, a trait-modesty scale, and conceptually unrelated scales. The findings in

Study 2 strongly supported the construct validity of the impression management through

modesty scale used in Study 1 versus the trait-modesty scale, thus mitigating the concerns

about the construct validity of the modesty measure in Study 1.

The present research contributes to extant literature in several ways. First, the

enhancing role of political skill on the effects of self-presentation through modesty was

established. Second, instead of college students, the present study utilized actual employees.


Third, the implications of laboratory-based findings were established in natural settings.

Fourth, the implications of short-term immediate laboratory effects on long-term career

consequences were verified. Fifth, a comprehensive self presentation through modesty scale

at the work place was developed and validated. Finally, alternative explanations of the effects

in Study 1 based on age, gender, self-esteem, and trait-modesty were ruled out.

Theoretical Implications

The present study expands upon previous experimental research with college samples,

which had studied the immediate effects of self-presentation through modesty on perceived

competence, likeability, and willingness to provide support to a target person (Cialdini & De

Nicholas, 1989; Tetlock, 1980; Wosinska et al., 1996). In a predictive study, we combined

these findings on the effects of self-presentation through modesty with socioanalytic theory

(Hogan, 1991; Hogan & Shelton, 1998), which posits that self-presentation goals require

effective social skill in order to be successful for developing one’s reputation. In addition, we

drew upon psycho-lexical research, which conjectures that being perceived as a modest

person corresponds to being perceived as sincere and fair, as opposed to sly, greedy, and

pretentious, thus building a positive reputation (Ashton et al., 2004).

Unlike other self-presentational tactics, acquisitive modesty has received little

empirical attention. The present findings strongly corroborate Cialdini and De Nicholas’s

(1989) theoretical claim that self-presentation through modesty can be an effective

impression management tactic, by promoting the perception that an individual is competent,

likeable, and honest in real-world work settings, outside of laboratory contexts. The present

study adds external validity to the existing literature on acquisitive impression management

through modesty. It demonstrated that modesty can have positive long-term career

consequences (i.e., as opposed to immediate effects on perceptions and intentions) for


employees (i.e., as opposed to college students) in real work settings (i.e., as opposed to

laboratory settings), if the modesty tactic is used with high social skill.

The results also are in line with previous studies on political skill. Political skill is one

of the social skill constructs (e.g., self-monitoring) that combines social understanding with

the ability to adjust behaviour to the demands of the situation in ways that inspire trust,

confidence, and support, appear genuine, and effectively influence others (Ferris, Treadway

et al., 2005, 2007). However, while the self-monitoring scale (Gangestad & Snyder, 2000)

was not designed specifically as a scale of social skill at the work place, the political skill

scale was designed specifically for this purpose (Ferris, Treadway et al., 2005).

Based on the work by Arthur and Rousseau (1996) and Hall (2002), Fugate, Kinicki,

and Ashforth (2004) convincingly argued that in today’s economy, individuals’

employability depends on four individual assets: career identity, personal adaptability, human

capital, and social capital. In line with Ferris, Treadway et al. (2005), and based on the

present findings, we should like to add political skill. Taken together, these findings and

arguments strongly indicate that political skill affects the way self-presentation tactics are

perceived and interpreted by others. Thus, political skill plays a critical role in the dynamics

of self-presentation tactics, as they are demonstrated and interpreted in the workplace.

Strengths and Limitations

This paper exhibits a number of strengths, which increase confidence in the validity of

the findings. First, Study 1 had a strong theoretical foundation, connecting the socioanalytic

perspective on self-presentation with the impression management research on modesty.

Second, the predictor and criterion variables were separated by three years. This mitigates

consistency bias impacts. Third, control variables (i.e., age, gender, self-esteem) were used to

exclude rival explanations for hypotheses. Fourth, the implications of laboratory-based

findings were confirmed in natural work settings, and demonstrated long-term effects,


thereby connecting basic and applied social psychology. Fifth, Study 2 confirmed construct

validity of the impression management scale through modesty used in Study 1.

One limitation of this study was the self-reported nature of the variables of interest,

specifically hierarchical position. However, self-reports have been shown to correlate highly

with archival company records (Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995; Turban &

Dougherty, 1994). In a recent study on the success of car salespersons (Blickle, Wendel, &

Ferris, 2010), car salespersons and their supervisors were asked to report the number of cars

salespersons had sold in the previous year. The average number of self-reported individually

sold cars was 81.93 (SD = 25.51) cars, while supervisors reported 82.73 (SD = 28.597) cars

sold by the respective salespersons (t = -.22, df = 14, p > .80). Additionally, self-reports of

cars sold and supervisory reports correlated at r = .87 (p < .01). These findings support the

reliability and validity of self-report data. In addition, all data stem from the same source,

potentially subject to common methods variance. However, Harman's single factor test only

explained 45% of the variance explained by three orthogonal factors. This mitigates the

concerns about a common method bias.

Another limitation is the relatively low alpha (.62) for the impression management

through modesty variable in Study 1. One of the implications of the low alpha of impression

management through modesty scale is that the reliability of the interaction term impression

management through modesty x political skill decreased (Aguinis & Stone-Romero, 1997;

Dunlap & Kemery, 1988). By this, the statistical power to detect the moderating effects

decreased equally. However, as the interaction effects nevertheless attained the level of

significance, we have strong evidence to assume that these moderating effects, in reality,

were much stronger, but were underestimated in the present study (Aguinis & Stone-Romero,

1997). Additionally, the reliability for the IM-modesty 4 scale had a good reliability (i.e. α =

.80) in Study 2.Another limitation is that the employees in our sample were active in


administrative and managerial jobs. Thus, the present findings may not generalize to other

fields, such as the academia, social jobs, or realistic jobs (Holland, 1996). Finally, this study

incorporated a German sample of working adults, which may not generalize to western

nations (i.e., Europe and North America), as the possibility exists that cultural effects also

could influence this relationship.

Future Research Directions

There are several directions for future empirical inquiry. First, future research should

empirically analyse the relationships of acquisitive impression management through modesty

with related constructs such as politeness, pride, arrogance, and self-efficacy. Second, self

presentation through modesty can fail and backfire, as these impression management attempts

can be construed as low skill or incompetence. We expect that this should be the case with

persons who have low social skill. Third, Gibson and Sachau (2000) elaborated that

understating one’s abilities also can serve to reduce performance pressure, and to lower the

evaluation baseline being applied. This could be defined as defensive impression management

through modesty. Future research should integrate acquisitive and defensive self presentation

through modesty in one comprehensive theory. Fourth, through a predictive design, future

research should competitively test political skill as moderator of impression management

through modesty and trait-modesty in the prediction of career success. In addition, future

research also should analyse the interplay between trait-modesty, impression management

through modesty, and political skill on reputation, perceived job performance, and career

success.

Conclusion

The present research demonstrated that self-presentation through modesty can be a

powerful tactic in the workplace, if it is executed skilfully. Modesty, and employees’ ability

to present it well, will establish a positive reputation, which subsequently, contributes to an


employees’ career success. Hopefully, the present results will increase interest in topics of

self presentation through modesty in organizations.


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Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations, Coefficient Alpha Reliabilities, and Correlations of the Variables in Study 1

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Gender 1.26 0.44 (-)

2. Age 33.30 5.11 -.09 (-)

3. Self-esteem 2.48 0.27 -.05 .05 (.62)

4. Impression Management

through Modesty 5.60 1.11 -.08 -.05 -.14 (.61)

5. Political Skill 5.13 0.75 -.09 -.15 .34** -.21* (.91)

6. Hierarchical Position T3 67.22 22.91 -.15 .10 .17* -.01 .32** (-)

7. Career Satisfaction T3 3.80 0.57 .03 .01 .15 -.06 .23** .32** (.84) Note. N = 141; Gender: 1 = male, 2 = female; *p < .05, **p < .01; Age in T1, T3 = wave after three years.


Table 2 Hierarchical Regression Analysis on Hierarchical Position in Study 1 Criterion Variable = Hierarchical Position in T3

Predictors Β ∆R2 R2 Block

1 Gender -.14

Age .08

Self-esteem .16†

.056* .056*

2 Impression Management through Modesty .06

Political Skill .33**

.087** .143**

3 Modesty x Political Skill .17*

.028* .170** Note. N = 141; †p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01; Gender: 1 = male, 2 = female; Age in T1; T3 = wave after three years.


Table 3 Hierarchical Regression Analysis on Career Satisfaction in Study 1 Criterion Variable = Career Satisfaction in T3

Predictors Β ∆R2 R2 Block

1 Gender .03

Age .00

Self-esteem .15†

.022 .022

2 Impression Management through Modesty .00

Political Skill .21*

.038† .060

3 Modesty x Political Skill .18*

.030* .090* Note. N = 141; †p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01; Gender: 1 = male, 2 = female; Age in T1; T3 = wave after three years.


Table 4 Expert Categorizations and Ratings of the Acquisitive Impression Management through

modesty Scale (IM-modesty 19) in Study 2

Items POE MAS

1 In certain situations I intentionally play down my strengths in order to make a good impression.

100% 3.88

2 My motto is: do well and talk about it! Because otherwise other people would not take notice of how good my achievements are. (R)

63% 3.00

3 When others praise me I make it a point to not react in a self-satisfied manner. 75% 3.50 4 I make no secret of my abilities even if I think in a certain situation that perhaps that might

be better received. (R) 75% 3.50

5 So as to make a personable impression I occasionally appear to be more modest than I actually am.

100% 3.75

6 When I have done something well it is important to me that others learn about it from me. (R)

63% 3.00

7 I sometimes play down good qualities or successes in front of others but I also do not do it too much.

100% 3.50

8 In order to not provoke envy in others I somewhat play down my good achievements in front of them occasionally.

100% 3.13

9 Even if I have done something very well I do not brag about it so as to not appear off-putting.

88% 3.86

10 I behave modestly when my strengths are acknowledged by others so as to not appear conceited.

100% 3.75

11 When I am pleased with a success I do not pay attention to whether others could consider me conceited. (R)

63% 3.00

12 Even if it is my turn I sometimes give precedence to others so as to appear personable. 885% 3.00 13 I behave modestly when it is obvious to others that I have done something well so as to

appear personable. 100% 3.88

14 Sometimes I consciously show myself to be modest so as to appear personable. 100% 3.88 15 I think: if a person does something very well and despite this behaves very modestly others

will probably think that it was nothing special at all. (R) 75% 2.67

16 When I feel superior to other people I do not let others notice it so as to not be considered arrogant.

100% 3.50

17 In order to make others envious I occasionally lay great stress upon my successes and strengths. (R)

635% 2.80

18 I talk about my strengths and positive accomplishments even if I occasionally make myself a little unpopular by doing so. (R)

75% 3.00

19 Even if I am very proud of an achievement I behave modestly so as to not appear arrogant. 100% 3.63

Note. (R) indicates reversed scoring; POE = proportion of experts who categorized the item as conceptually intended; MAS = mean appropriateness score (1 = “somewhat appropriate” to 4 = “completely appropriate”).


Table 5 Means, Standard Deviations, Coefficient Alpha Reliabilities, and Correlations in Study 2

M SD 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 1. Age 28.71 3.15 (-) 2. Gender 0.45 0.50 -.06 (-) 3. Political Skill 4.87 0.67 -.07 .21* (.89) 4. IM-modesty 19 5.76 0.87 -.03 -.20* -.11 (.85) 5. IM-modesty 4 6.14 1.31 -.03 -.13 -.14 .62** (.80) 6. Trait-modesty 3.81 0.57 -.12 .13 -.17 .09 .32** (.75) 7. Self-esteem 2.33 0.50 .02 .00 .36** -.11 -.11 -.03 (.87) 8. Openness to Fantasy 2.21 0.59 .09 .08 .10 .13 .12 .04 -.01 (.73) Note. N = 132; Gender: 0 = male, 1 = female; *p < .05, **p < .01. Political Skill = Political Skill Inventory (Ferris et al., 2005); IM-modesty 4 = impression management through modesty scale with four items used in Study 1; IM-modesty 19 = impression management through modesty scale with 19 items newly minted in Study 2; Trait-modesty (HEXACO, Lee & Ashton, 2004); Self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965); Openness to Fantasy (NEO-PI-R, Costa & McCrae, 1992).


Figure 1

Interaction of Impression management through modesty and Political Skill on Hierarchical Position in Study 1

Note. N = 141, T1 = wave one, T3 = wave after three years.


Figure 2 Interaction of Impression management through modesty and Political Skill on Career Satisfaction in Study 1

Note. N = 141, T1 = wave one, T3 = after three years.

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