Overconfidence and the Pursuit of High-Status Positions: A Test of Two Behavioral Strategies

Abstract

Prior research demonstrates that overconfident people are more likely to attain high-status positions of leadership and influence. However, the underlying motivational and behavioral mechanisms driving this relationship remain largely unexplored. In the present research, we sought to fill this gap in the literature by proposing that overconfidence is associated with stronger status motives and the pursuit of high-status positions via dominance-based strategies. In Studies 1 and 2, we find overconfidence to be positively related to the pursuit of high-status positions of leadership. In Studies 3 and 4, we find overconfident individuals to lean towards dominance- over prestige-based status-seeking strategies. Finally, in Study 4, a field study among real-world supervisor-subordinate dyads, we find an indirect effect of overconfidence on expected social status advancement through dominance. Together, the current studies offer novel insight into the relationship between overconfidence and social status advancement by identifying previously unexplored explanatory mechanisms.