Accounts for success as determinants of perceived arrogance and modesty

Two factors are assumed to induce impressions of arrogance and modestly in reaction to others' accounts for success: the dimensions underlying the cau se for success and the perceived desirability of the cause. Guided by Weine r's attribution theory (B, Weiner; 1986), it was proposed that accounts asc ribing success to internal,stable, uncontrollable, and desirable causes rep resent positive given qualities of a person (e.g,, intelligence and beauty that lead to perceptions of arrogance and lack of modesty. Three vignette e xperiments measuring subjects' reactions to others' accounts for achievemen ts in school and sports confirmed these predictions. Accounts induce impres sions of arrogance and modesty regardless of the level of the achievement. Additionally arrogance reduces admiration toward the achiever whereas incre ments in modesty and/or level of success increase it. The present findings provide further evidence of the significance of attributional information f or social judgements.