It takes less than a few seconds to make a first impression on someone. And that first impression is a powerful one: we stay attached to them for a very long time. Good news if it's positive, not so good if it's not. Carrying the colours of a family business is no exception to the rule: whether you are involved operationally, strongly or otherwise, a future manager or a member of the board of directors, what you say and show about your relationship with your company is essential. The way they are perceived by stakeholders - employees, consumers, business partners, etc. - is even crucial.
Our latest study shows that pride can be a double-edged sword for members of family businesses. On the one hand, it can strengthen identity, commitment and cohesion within the company. On the other, it can create a negative impression of pride or superiority. So how can the expression of pride influence the impressions of outsiders, and above all, is it an asset or a hindrance for the new generations of family businesses?
Pride or arrogance?
If the expression of pride is so divisive, it's because we need to differentiate between two forms. The first is hubristic pride, which is pride in belonging to the family business. This form of pride is perceived as arrogant and can give rise to negative impressions of pride or superiority, for example when the heir to a family business boasts about his family name. This pride of status can create an impression of arrogance, privilege and even lack of merit in the eyes of outsiders.
Conversely, there is genuine pride, which, as opposed to hubristic pride, is rooted in the efforts and achievements of the members of the company. This type of pride is generally perceived more positively by outsiders. For example, an heir presents a successful project for his company. In this case, the expression of pride generates more admiration, a perception of competence and legitimacy.
The legitimacy of expressing pride
At the heart of these two images of pride lies a decisive element: legitimacy. If the outsider is convinced that you lack legitimacy, they will perceive pride as arrogance. All the more so as this can be accompanied by a halo effect: we tend to form an opinion of someone based on a single characteristic.
Let's take the example of a student who shows his pride after getting the best marks in the class while boasting that he hasn't done any work. He would immediately see his popularity rating drop, provoking jealousy and rejection from his classmates who would see him as arrogant, whatever he did in the future. On the other hand, if he shows that he has made a substantial effort to pass this test, this could lead to a feeling of admiration and an image of hard work.
In fact, we wanted to test the external impressions of the demonstration of pride by the new generations of family businesses. To do this, we studied three scenarios: whether the heir expressed hubristic pride, genuine pride or no particular emotion.
A perception that also depends on culture and gender
The empirical results of this study confirm that hubristic pride generates negative judgements linked to arrogance and lower performance. The absence of emotion is even better perceived. Conversely, genuine pride gave rise to more favourable judgements, perceiving better performance, more innovation and more sympathy in the heir.
However, we are not all equal when it comes to other people's perceptions of our pride. It's a situation that depends very much on our culture and our gender. For example, all forms of pride are generally perceived more negatively in Asian cultures than in Western cultures, because of the strong values of cohesion conveyed by these cultures. Pride, even genuine pride, is seen as a threat to social equilibrium and an expression of excessive individualism. In China, the expression of pride is judged negatively, whereas Americans consider it much more appropriate to feel or express pride in their personal achievements.
Among women, the expression of hubristic pride was judged more negatively than among men, as female leaders are generally perceived more negatively when they display emotions that convey an image of dominance. Authentic pride, on the other hand, had a more positive impact on women, as it runs counter to perceptions linked to existing gender stereotypes.
Finally, for the new generations of family businesses, showing pride can be an asset or a hindrance to their image. Highlighting a family business affiliation with no apparent legitimacy will engender more negative feelings, whereas showing pride in one's achievements and the effort put in can create more positive perceptions. So, are you ready to make a good impression?
This article by Fabian Bernhard, Associate Professor at EDHEC, has been initially published in French in The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.
