Less Care, More Respect: Low Concern About Social Evaluation Signals Competence

Concern about social evaluation motivates impression management, yet how observers judge people who appear more or less concerned remains unclear. We propose that appearing less concerned about social evaluation consequences can elicit greater respect by functioning as a signal of competence. In a preregistered study (N = 360), participants evaluated targets described as having either higher or lower concern about social evaluation. Targets who appeared less concerned were judged as more competent and, in turn, more deserving of respect, with perceived competence mediating this effect. A second preregistered study (N = 367) showed that this pattern did not extend to targets who displayed indifference to financial loss, suggesting that the effect is specific to concern about social evaluation rather than general nonchalance. These findings highlight stances toward social evaluation as a consequential cue for competence inference.