What Is Humility and Why Does It Matter?
Perhaps you’ve noticed that our culture places a lot of value on external accomplishments, looks, or status. Luckily, humility can help us transcend self-preoccupation and pursue connectedness.
According to researchers (Tangney, 2000), humility has several different characteristics:
Even though humility is sometimes interpreted to be low self-esteem, this is not really what it is. To be humble does not mean to have a low opinion of yourself, but rather to have an accurate opinion of yourself and to put your accomplishments into perspective. For example, it means acknowledging your strengths but not overemphasising them (Templeton, 1997). In other words, it might be thought of as “a quiet ego” (Hill & Laney, 2016).
The opposite of humility is something like arrogance. Arrogance is “the belief that we are wiser or better than others. Arrogance promotes separation rather than community.” (Templeton, 1997, p. 163).
Humble people don’t want to impress or dominate others or have an exaggerated sense of self-importance. They are more open to ideas or information different from their own views because they feel comfortable admitting that they don’t possess the absolute truth and have limitations themselves (Hill & Laney, 2016).
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Why Is Humility Good?
Intellectual humility means recognising the limits of one’s own knowledge (Kross & Grossmann, 2012). It also means being open to new ideas and perspectives as well as being willing to change your mind or be receptive to new sources of knowledge and evidence. For example, research shows that humility is associated with openness during a disagreement (Porter & Schumann, 2017) and being a better learner (Porter et al., 2020).
Humility can be helpful when talking about delicate topics such as religion and politics, as people who are high in this trait are more likely to be more tolerant toward other religions and less likely to perceive their religious views as superior (Porter & Schumann, 2017; Leary et al., 2017).
Humility is also a sought-after quality in leaders. Google’s VP in charge of hiring said that it is one of the top qualities he looks for in a candidate. He argues that “without humility, you are unable to learn,” which is important when solving any problem because sometimes a person might have to have the “humility to step back and embrace the better ideas of others” (Friedman, 2014). This example highlights not only how humility can make you a better leader but also how it is, unfortunately, a rare quality.
In Conclusion
Humility is a beneficial characteristic that can help you foster better social connections, enhance your well-being and leadership. By striving to be more humble you may also feel more accepting of your place in your social circle, workplace and society in general.
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