Communicating Character: Extending the Theoretical Boundaries of Honor

Psychological theories of honor focusing on insult and other reputational threats cannot account for variations in honor values and practices. Findings from other disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, and philosophy, reveal a wide array of honor values, as well as shared principles that account for this heterogeneity. I use this knowledge to produce a working theory of honor that explains variation in honor while maintaining consistent underlying logics. Honor attributes action to character qualities, imbuing them with implications for personal worth based on group values, narratives, and contextual factors that frame the interpretation of behavior. Between groups, different values and practices specify different means of pursuing honor. Within groups, people draw on different information to interpret situations and use different strategies to maintain honor. Within individuals, the same person adjusts perceptions of honor based on contextual information and person-dependent expectations. This novel framework has broad implications for understanding how groups adhere to values and maintain the balance between conformity and innovation. It suggests that honor has impacts far beyond the situations and constructs studied in the existing psychological literature.