Those just seek approval from others. It's one of three undesireable lines of growth: by seeking approval from superiors, by desiring to look better than peers and by desiring to invoke fear. All three can be traced to the early childhood of the individual: those who grew up in fear will learn to see the world thru this lens and so on. The three desireable lines of growth are: by compassion to others, by seeking the truth and by action of self sacrifice (not necesserarily in the literal sense).