The pursuit of joint outcomes and equality in outcomes: An integrative model of social value orientation.

Abstract

The author provides a conceptual framework for understanding differences among prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientations.Whereas traditional models conceptualize prosocial orientation in terms of enhancing joint outcomes, the author proposes an integrative model of social value orientation in which prosocial orientation is understood in terms of enhancing both joint outcomes and equality in outcomes.Consistent with this integrative model, prosocial orientation (vs.individualistic and competitive orientations) was associated with greater tendencies to enhance both joint outcomes and equality in outcomes; in addition, both goals were positively associated (Study 1).Consistent with interactionrelevant implications of this model, prosocial orientation was strongly related to reciprocity.Relative to individualists and competitors, prosocials were more likely to engage in the same level of cooperation as the interdependent other did (Study 2) and the same level of cooperation as they anticipated from the interdependent other (Study 3).Presumably, patterns of social interaction could be relatively easily understood if individuals tended to act in accordance with "rational self-interest."However, the motivations that individuals bring to bear on social interactions seem to be broader and more multifaceted than the simple pursuit of personal outcomes.One pervasive broader motivation derives from tendencies to enhance the outcomes of a dyad, group, or collective, even when such actions are quite costly to the self (e.g., donations to public goods, acts of self-sacrifice in relationships).The pursuit of joint outcomes has received a fair amount of attention in the literature on experimental games, cooperation, and competition (e.g., Kelley & Stahelski, 1970;McClintock & Liebrand, 1988).Another pervasive broader motivation derives from tendencies to enhance equality in outcomes, even when such actions are quite costly to the self (e.g., distributing resources in a fair manner, compromising and sharing in relationships).The pursuit of equality in outcomes has received a fair amount of attention in the literature on justice, fairness, and equity (e.g., Deutsch, 1975;Lind & Tyler, 1988).How are the broader motivations of enhancing joint outcomes and enhancing equality in outcomes to be understood?Does each of these motivations operate in isolation or in concert?Might it be that many people tend to pursue both joint outcomes and equality in outcomes, or do these motivations exclude each other?This research addresses social value orientation, a concept that theoretically extends the rational self-interest postulate by assum-