Excessive Image Concern and Willingness to Incur Personal Cost in the Experience and Perception of Vanity

Vanity has been defined traditionally as excessive pride. We propose that vanity is a negatively viewed social behavior fueled by excessive concern over one's public image, characterized by a willingness to incur personal cost because of this concern. In Study 1, autobiographical accounts of personal and witnessed vanity were contrasted with personal accounts of pride and positive self-presentation. Vanity accounts were more characterized by personal cost and negativity than pride and positive self-presentation, and were more related to image concern than the pride. Study 2 used scenario manipulations of the personal cost and reasonableness of a target's cosmetic procedure. Higher cost of and less reasonable motives for the procedure enhanced vanity perceptions in ways distinguishable from hubristic and authentic pride.