Schoeck_2010_EnvyATheoryOfSocialBehaviour.pdf

THE BRAGGART EXPERIMENT 101
convinced that his observation is correct, afraid only of seeming a
know-all? The effect of the verbal reprisals used by Milgram in his
experiment indicates the latter. Where the subject was brought to recant
his own observations by taunts such as 'Can't you see or hear, man?, or
'Wake up!' the shame factor could be assumed. Hence a definitive
distinction between the two motives is hardly possible because the
group-or another person-more often than not seeks to force the
individualist, whose superiority is secretly feared, to conform by denigrating
his judgement, although they know he is right.
What is perhaps of significance to our general considerations is the
comparison made by Milgram between the considerable conformity
shown by the Norwegian in the experiment in perception and his calm
acceptance of extremely restrictive social measures 'in the interests of
the welfare of the community. ' Milgram writes:
I found Norwegian society highly cohesive. Norwegians have a deep
feeling of group identification, and they are strongly attuned to the needs
and interests of those around them. Their sense of social responsibility
finds expression in formidable institutions for the care and protection of
Norwegian citizens. The heavy taxation required to support broad programs
of social welfare is borne willingly. It would not be surprising to find that
social cohesiveness of this sort goes hand in hand with a high degree of
conformity.
The braggart experiment
Once more we look in vain for any awareness of the fact of envy in an
experimental study in social psychology by Albert Pepitone on Attraction
and Hostility, 31 which appeared in 1964. It concerns experiments
with small groups in which an interviewer was supposed to anger the
subjects by a display of various types of vanity or arrogance; from one
experiment to the next subjects were given fictitious biographical data
concerning the supposedly arrogant interviewer, so that in one case his
behaviour was to some extent justified by his achievements, in another
31 A. Pepitone, Attraction and Hostility. An Experimental Analysis of Interpersonal
and Self-Evaluation, New York, 1964.