Benefits of a quiet ego
Wellbeing
Researchers have recently developed a concept that is a quiet ego—a concept that overlaps with humility. Like humble individuals, people who experience a quiet ego are aware of their attributes rather than defensive, feel a sense of belonging or affiliation with all humans rather than special, appreciate the perspectives of other people, fostering compassion, and strive to develop and learn from their experiences rather than demonstrate their capabilities (Wayment et al., 2015). To measure a quiet ego, participants complete measures of these qualities, specifically detached awareness, inclusive identity, perspective taking, and growth-mindedness. This quiet ego has been shown to predict many favourable outcomes, such as happiness and wellbeing.
Many studies have explored the reasons that a quiet ego tends to improve wellbeing. For example, as Liu et al. (2021) revealed, a quiet ego tends to foster mindfulness and improve emotional intelligence enhancing wellbeing and diminishing stress. Specifically, when individuals experience a quiet ego, they can observe themselves from the perspective of someone else, objectively and fairly, called detached awareness. Because of this detachment, they do not feel concerned about how their circumstances or surroundings reflect or affect their status or attributes. They can thus observe these circumstances or surroundings, impartially and without judgment, epitomising mindfulness.
Similarly, a quiet ego, coupled with mindfulness, can foster emotional intelligence—or the capacity of individuals to recognise, utilise, apply, and manage emotions helpfully. To illustrate,
- if individuals adopt a quiet ego and thus appreciate the perspectives of other people, they can more readily imagine, decipher, and accommodate the emotions these people experience,
- likewise, if individuals are mindful, they can observe themselves and other people, and hence appraise their emotions, more accurately.
This emotional intelligence enables people to resolve challenges, such as conflicts with other individuals, more effectively, enhancing wellbeing and diminishing stress. A survey of 300 participants that included measures of a quiet ego, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, and stress, generated results that substantiate these arguments.
Likewise, in an experimental study, Liu, Isbell, Constantino, and Leidner (2022) confirmed that a quiet ego may foster emotional intelligence. In this study, half the participants were assigned to a program that was designed to foster a quiet ego. Specifically, participants listened to an audio recording, lasting six minutes, that delineated the four key features of a quiet ego. They learned that people who adopt a quiet ego balance their personal interests with the needs of other individuals. Next, they completed a reflective exercise in which they contemplated how they could apply these lessons to their lives. In the control condition, participants to an audio recording, of similar length, on the natural history of ledges. Participants who learned about a quiet ego subsequently reported higher levels of emotional intelligence and flourishing in life.
Yet, many other pathways can also explain this association between a quiet ego and wellbeing. Liu, Isbell, and Leidner (2022) proposed that a quiet ego might also foster an inclination called self-concept clarity—or the degree to which individuals perceive their qualities and capabilities as unambiguous rather than hazy or conflicting. Presumably, when individuals experience a quiet ego, they are not as inclined to inflate their qualities to themselves. Their perceptions of themselves, thus, will be more consistent over time and compatible with the feedback they receive, promoting self-concept clarity.
Armed with this clarity, individuals are more likely to reach suitable choices. They gravitate to activities that are compatible with their values, interests, and capabilities. They also embrace activities that may address their limitations, facilitating growth. Because of these suitable choices, individuals who experience self-concept clarity, partly derived from their quiet ego, should experience satisfaction with their life. Indeed, Liu, Isbell, and Leidner (2022) discovered, after conducting a survey of 500 participants, that self-concept clarity does indeed mediate the relationship between a quiet ego and various indices of wellbeing, such as purpose in life, autonomy, and trusting relationships.
A quiet ego might also inspire individuals to adopt a more authentic lifestyle. Pradhan et al. (2025), for example, demonstrated that individuals who experience a quiet ego report greater authenticity. They tend to choose actions or verbalise opinions that resonate with their values rather than feel the urge to conform to societal expectations. Presumably, a quiet ego, in which people observe themselves impartially, enables individuals to appreciate their values and understand their motives. Consequently, they can more readily choose actions that resonate with these values and motives.
Similarly, because of this quiet ego and authenticity, these individuals may not feel as inclined to flaunt their wealth or status. They will not, therefore, purchase unnecessary possessions to symbolise this rank. Consistent with this possibility, Pradhan et al. (2025) showed that a quiet ego is also associated with voluntary simplicity or a decision to refrain from unnecessary consumption or purchases. Both the authenticity and simplicity that emanate from a quiet ego also predicted the degree to which these individuals perceive their life as meaningful and rewarding.
