Self-activation is a two-edged sword: The effects of I primes on cooperation

• Published in: Journal of experimental social psychology Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 769 - 776
• Main Author: Utz, Sonja
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.11.2004; Elsevier; Academic Press
• Subjects: Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition; Cognitive-behavioral factors; Cooperation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Independent self-construal; Priming; Prosocial behavior; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Self; Self-activation; Selfconstrual; Social cognitive processes; Social interactions. Communication. Group processes; Social psychology; Social value orientation; Social values; Value orientations; Social value orientation; Independent self-construal; Cooperation; Self-activation; Human; Social interaction; Prosocial behavior; Value; Self activation; Experimental study
• ISSN: 0022-1031; 1096-0465
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2004.03.001

Two studies examined the influence of I primes on cooperative behavior. Two contrasting hypotheses were tested, using prosocial allocations (Experiment 1) and behavior in a give-some dilemma (Experiment 2) as dependent variables and assessing subjects’ social value orientation. The self-activation hypothesis ( Verplanken & Holland, 2002) predicts that social value orientation influences behavior to a stronger degree when activated. That is, proselfs should behave less cooperatively, whereas prosocials should behave even more cooperatively in an I prime condition. The independent self-construal hypothesis (e.g., Gardner, Gabriel, & Lee, 1999) predicts a stronger concern for one’s own outcome and less cooperative behavior for individuals with an activated independent self-construal. In both studies an interaction between priming and social value orientation occurred, supporting the self-activation hypothesis. Implications for the importance of social cognitive processes underlying cooperative behavior, as well as, implications for research on independent vs interdependent self-construals are discussed.