Meeting Support Institute

A happy smile, the head slightly backwards, chest out, hands resting on the hips or in the air: research shows that four year olds can recognize this universal expression of pride, even members of an isolated tribal community in Burkina Faso, Africa.  With that, pride can be added to the list of basic emotions, recognized all over the world: happiness, amazement, sadness, fear, anger and disgust. This supports the idea that pride has an evolutionary basis, says the American psychologist Jessica Tracy: ‘When you booked a success, it is important that other people know about it, it says “I am someone you should not reject.”’Psychology Magazine June 2006 (Monitor on Psychology March 2006)