“Forgetting Oneself”: Humility in Psychology Studies
Emine Yücel, Gökhan Arslantürk“Kendini Unutmak”: Psikoloji Araştırmalarında Tevazu
Emine Yücel, Gökhan ArslantürkHumility can concisely be defined as one’s becoming less self-centered, and more otheroriented. A humble person embraces one’s personal strengths without arrogance, and confronts one’s inadequacies without self-deprecation (Exline et al., 2004). Such a person conceives oneself as a tiny part of a very large (if not infinite) whole, and this corresponds to the epistemological component of humility (Wright et al., 2017). A humble person also knows that one does not deserve any special treatment due to his/her own superior qualities to others. Such an egalitarian stance corresponds to the moral component of humility (Wright et al., 2017). Even though humility as a virtue is a panacea for many psychological difficulties and social evils, it can be mentioned as one of the neglected topics in psychology literature. This review aims to cover a recent but relatively limited literature on humility. The researchers have not still reached a consensus on the definition and structure of humility. While some of the authors regard humility as an admirable human virtue (e.g., Exline et al., 2004), some others draw attention to its darker side (e.g., Weidman et al., 2016). However, generally speaking, humility is construed as different from other related constructs such as modesty, low self-esteem, and self-humiliation. When humility is studied as a trait-level construct, its link to prosocial tendencies, interpersonal functioning, and developmental patterns has been questioned (Tangney, 2002). On the contrary, when it is considered as a state-level construct, the conditions (be it experimental or real life) under which humility increases or decreases have been probed (Kruse, Chancellor, & Lyubomirsky, 2017). Humility can take various forms in different domains of life, and those forms can be mentioned as intellectual humility, cultural humility, and relational humility. Humility ultimately necessitates self-forgetting in terms of positive qualities (including one’s being a humble person). However, such a diminished self-focus becomes paradoxical when it comes to measure humility by directly asking a person how humble oneself is (Davis et al., 2011). With the question of measurability of the concept in mind, the literature offers different measurement approaches to humility (i.e., self-report, other-report, and implicit tools).
Empirical studies have pointed out certain antecedents and consequences of humility. Accordingly, religiosity, attachment styles, and other virtues (forgiveness, gratitude, etc.) are emerged as the predictors of humility. The restorative impact of humility in the real life context can be compiled under four headings: psychological health, interpersonal relations, occupational setting, and societal tolerance. Humble people are at peace with themselves since they develop a quiet and non-judging stance about their strengths and weaknesses. They accept their personal limitations and therefore can easily ask for help from others. Such qualities warrant humble people with better psychosocial resources such as interpersonal trust, hardiness, and social support (Nielsen & Marrone, 2018). Additionally, many prosocial tendencies such as helpfulness, generosity, and forgiveness accompany humility in the interpersonal realm. Relatedly, humility plays a vital role in the escalation and revival of social commitments among family members, close friends, and romantic partners (Davis et al., 2011). Some of the benefits of humility reflect upon work settings as well. Humble people show an outstanding work performance due to their non-defensive acceptance of their intellectual insufficiencies and their openness to learn from others (Owens, Rowatt, & Wilkins, 2011). In addition, prosocial tendencies inherent in the humble people might contribute to the social capital among members of a work team (Owens et al., 2011). What is more, humble leadership can increase employee participation, lessen quitting job (Owens, Johnson, & Mitchell, 2013), and elevate team effectiveness (Rego, Cunha, & Simpson, 2018). And, last but not least, it is worth mentioning the role of humility in the growth of a more peaceful and all-embracing society. Humble people develop a critical skepticism about worldviews (including their own beliefs) considering the limits of human intellect (Wright et al., 2017). As a consequence, they don’t feel threatened in the face of opposing views, and eventually, become respectful to them.
Due to its vital importance for human psyche and society, psychologists should come up with novel techniques to equip people with humility. Relatedly, an intervention program by Lavelock et al. (2014) can be mentioned as an outstanding example to promote humility in people. Such programs can be integrated into various applied fields such as delinquency, addiction, psychotherapy, and conflict resolution. In the conclusion part of this review, an urgent need for cultural perspectives on humility has been pointed out given the fact that culture might affect how much valuable humility is in a society, how it is expressed, and what kinds of meanings are attached to it (Akhtar, 2018). With the present review at hand, the writers hope to pave the way for more psychology studies on humility since it is an antithesis to self-serving egotism.
