Abstract
Research in social and cultural psychology has identified that self-construal, or the way the self is defined in relation to others, plays an important role in social decision-making processes. Yet it remains difficult to isolate the effect of self-construal in a comparative approach. Therefore, we used priming methodology in three studies to induce either an independent or interdependent mindset to test direct consequences on fairness considerations. Specifically, we asked whether participants would accept an unfair ultimatum game offer: a split of 10 euros, where the participant is allocated the marginal share of 3 and the proposer 7. If the participant refuses, neither gets paid. In the first study, we used the well-known similarities and differences prime. Here, activating an interdependent mindset decreased rejection of the unfair offer compared to the independent mindset and control condition, but only in females. The prime did not affect males. In the second and third study we modified our university's mission statement to instead include either independent or interdependent values. Females displayed a similar direction of effects; in males however, activating an interdependent mindset increased rejection. Taken together, the results show that whether participants accept or reject an unfair offer depends on both their gender and the self-construal prime. The results were interpreted using the distinction between relational independence that has been associated with females, and collective interdependence, that has been associated with males. Possible consequences for future studies are discussed.
Highlights
Human social behavior does not follow the rational principles of economic models
To examine whether participants differed in trait levels of independence or interdependence as a function of condition and gender, a two-way ANOVA was performed with trait self-construal scale (TSC) as the dependent variable
In line with our predictions we found that differences in fairness considerations as a function of interdependent and independent mindsets were more pronounced in males in Study 2 than in Study 1
Summary
Human social behavior does not follow the rational principles of economic models. Rather than maximizing individual profit, decision-making is driven by social preferences like inequality aversion, fairness, trust, and reciprocity (Weber et al, 2004; Balliet et al, 2009; Van Lange et al, 2013). There is marked variation both within and between individuals, indicating that decision-making in social situations does not adhere to universal principles. Part of this variation can be explained by individual attributes such as gender and age (MacPherson et al, 2002; Deakin et al, 2004; Peters et al, 2007; Eckel and Grossman, 2008; Croson and Gneezy, 2009; Balliet et al, 2011), while a substantial amount originates. We focus on self-construal as a plausible underlying psychological mechanism, and use priming in three experimental studies to further elucidate variation in the way people value outcomes for self and others
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