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Envy and positional bias in the evolutionary psychology of management

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  • Sarah E. Hill

    (University of Texas, Austin, USA)

  • David M. Buss

    (University of Texas, Austin, USA)

Abstract

We propose that humans have evolved at least two specialized cognitive adaptations shaped by selection to solve problems associated with resource competition: (1) a positional bias by which individuals judge success in domains that affect fitness in terms of standing relative to their reference group; and (2) envy, an emotion that functions to alert individuals to fitness-relevant advantages enjoyed by rivals and to motivate individuals to acquire those same advantages. We present new data supporting the existence of design features of these hypothesized psychological adaptations and discuss implications for economists, organizations, marketers, and managers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah E. Hill & David M. Buss, 2006. "Envy and positional bias in the evolutionary psychology of management," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2-3), pages 131-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:27:y:2006:i:2-3:p:131-143
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.1288
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    1. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September.
    2. M.A. Nowak & K. Sigmund, 1998. "Evolution of Indirect Reciprocity by Image Scoring/ The Dynamics of Indirect Reciprocity," Working Papers ir98040, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
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    Cited by:

    1. Solnick, Sara J. & Hemenway, David, 2009. "Do spending comparisons affect spending and satisfaction?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 568-573, August.
    2. Lorenz Graf-Vlachy, 2019. "Like student like manager? Using student subjects in managerial debiasing research," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 347-376, April.
    3. Armenak Antinyan & Vardan Baghdasaryan & Aleksandr Grigoryan, 2018. "Social Preferences, Public Good Provision, Social Capital and Positional Concerns: Empirical Evidence from the South Caucasus," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp625, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    4. Celse, Jérémy & Galia, Fabrice & Max, Sylvain, 2017. "Are (negative) emotions to blame for being positional? An experimental investigation of the impact of emotional states on status preferences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 122-130.
    5. Barbara, Latifa & Grolleau, Gilles & Houfaf Khoufaf, Assia & Meriane, Youcef & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2018. "Positional concerns and framing effects in financial preferences," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 183-189.
    6. Jérémy Celse, 2018. "Do You Enjoy Having More Than Others or More Than Another? Exploring the Relationship Between Relative Concerns and the Size of the Reference Group," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 1089-1118, August.
    7. Antinyan, Armenak & Baghdasaryan, Vardan & Grigoryan, Aleksandr, 2022. "Charitable giving, social capital, and positional concerns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Williams Akande & Bolanle Adetoun & Modupe Adewuyi & Titilola Akande & L. Ntshanga & Balin Dlamini & James Williamson & Nomvul Dladla & Zama Hlongwane & Osad Ibeagu & Erh Osagie, 2012. "The Wisdom of Eve: On Differentiating the Colours of Emotion that May Be Threats to Good Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 531-560, July.
    9. Kevin Kniffin, 2009. "Evolutionary perspectives on salary dispersion within firms," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 23-42, April.
    10. Sylvie Borau & Jean-François Bonnefon, 2019. "The Imaginary Intrasexual Competition: Advertisements Featuring Provocative Female Models Trigger Women to Engage in Indirect Aggression," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 45-63, June.
    11. Primidya K. M. Soesilo & Maureen L. Morrin & Nese Nur Yazgan Onuklu, 2021. "No longer green with envy: Objectifying and destroying negative consumer emotions," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 1111-1138, September.
    12. Philip Z. Maymin & Ellen J. Langer, 2021. "Cognitive biases and mindfulness," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Breidenthal, Amy P. & Liu, Dong & Bai, Yuntao & Mao, Yina, 2020. "The dark side of creativity: Coworker envy and ostracism as a response to employee creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 242-254.
    14. Hanna Krasnova & Thomas Widjaja & Peter Buxmann & Helena Wenninger & Izak Benbasat, 2015. "Research Note—Why Following Friends Can Hurt You: An Exploratory Investigation of the Effects of Envy on Social Networking Sites among College-Age Users," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 585-605, September.
    15. Graf, Lorenz & König, Andreas & Enders, Albrecht & Hungenberg, Harald, 2012. "Debiasing competitive irrationality: How managers can be prevented from trading off absolute for relative profit," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 386-403.
    16. Han Li & Shimin Zhang & Shenjiang Mo & Alexander Newman, 2024. "Relative Leader-Member Exchange and Unethical Pro-leader Behavior: The Role of Envy and Distributive Justice Climate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 99-111, June.

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