The Elephant in the Room: Examining the Connections between Humility and Social Status

Abstract

Humility is most frequently discussed as a socially-valuable trait, and being perceived as humble is generally considered beneficial.  Although there has been extensive scholarship expounding the concept of humility, previous work has yet to fully examine the role(s) of social status and stratification in regards to the perception of others’ humility and being humble.  In this sense, there is an elephant in the room that must be acknowledged in order to advance humility theory.  In this paper, we provide brief overviews of humility, social status and stratification, and utilize expectation states theory as a flashlight to explore the potential connections between humility and social status from a more sociological perspective. We then showcase where the “elephant” may be hiding in the humility literature (focusing specifically on race and gender), attempting to shed light on potential next steps for future research