Honor, status, and aggression in economic exchange

The concept of honor links reputation and self-esteem with interaction. in social groups and provides a promising way to approach questions about the release of aggression aggression in economic exchange. While the internaliz ation of conventional honor codes offers the hope of peaceful, if not just, exchange, competing codes of honor coexist within various aspects of the s elf and among members of various status groups. When a person's sense of in dividual or group honor is repeatedly violated in economic interaction, the reaction may include the release of aggression to repair damaged honor and establish self-respect. The narrative proceeds with art exploration of the concept of honor-followed by a brief review of the association of honor wi th rational action in pursuit of economic success. The problematic inscript ion on the self of conventional codes of honor is then discussed. A brief d iscussion of staged role performance and the display of alternative codes o f honor in workplace interaction and in extralegal market exchange illustra tes the argument. A final section considers alternative approaches to the p roblem of self-control as social control.