Within-Subject Variability in Ingratiation as a Function of Self-Esteem and Time A Dynamic Perspective

Adopting a within-person perspective, we theorize why ingratiation use directed toward an authority figure increases over time and for whom. We posit that as the appraisal event draws closer, the salience of achieving good evaluations increases, leading to an increasing use of ingratiation. We further propose that the increase will be stronger for individuals with low relative to high self-esteem. Participants were 349 students enrolled in a small-group, tutor-led management course. Data were collected in three bi-weekly waves and analyzed using random coefficient modeling. Results show that ingratiation use increased as time to the evaluation decreased, and low self-esteem students ingratiated more as time progressed. We conclude that ingratiation use varies as a function of contextual and inter-individual differences.