The concept of honor has an extensive and
distinguished
lineage in the study of international relations, although contemporary
theory
has lost sight of its importance. This study begins to remedy that
situation.
It does so by first setting out the place of honor in relation to a
number of
other related concepts, like prestige and status. It then outlines a
theory of “negative
honor,” and situates this in relation to existing theoretical and
empirical
accounts of honor-related variables. This theory draws on extant work
in social
psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and other
fields, to set
out hypotheses on why, how, and when political leaders of states might
respond
to certain kinds of challenges in a way that constitutes honor-seeking
behavior. The second part of the paper tentatively sets out one way to
empirically evaluate these hypotheses. While unsuccessful, this
provides a
blueprint for further research and a number of soon-to-be-implemented
refinements.
Paper presented at Princeton Graduate Conference on Psychology and Policymaking, October 2008.
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