Reactions to group success and failure as a function of identification level: a test of the goal-transformation hypothesis in social dilemmas

Abstract

This study examined the combined effects of identification level, social value orientation, and feedback on contributions in a public goods dilemma. Previous research has shown that strengthening group identity promotes cooperation. One explanation for this finding is that a strong group identity transforms people's motives from the personal to the collective level (the goal transformation hypothesis). Evidence for this hypothesis can be found in studies showing that a strong sense of group identity influences proselfs, relative to prosocials, to make larger contributions. In this experiment, we demonstrated that these findings are restricted to situations in which no feedback about a group's performance is provided. When performance feedback is provided, a strong group identity cancels the effects of individual differences in social value orientations. In particular, when a group fails, contributions increase if group identity is salient, but decrease if personal identity is salient, regardless of a person's social value orientation. But when a group succeeds, no differences between group and personal identity are found. These results are discussed in terms of the goal transformation hypothesis.