Social value orientation and cooperation in social dilemmas: A review and conceptual model

Abstract

Social psychologists have long recognized that people fundamentally differ with respect to their social value orientation (SVO), that is, self-regarding versus other regarding preferences, and that these differences affect cooperative behaviour in situations of interdependence. In this paper, we systematically review the vast number of findings on SVO and cooperation, and synthesize the state of the art by presenting an integrated conceptual model that may explain why and when people with different social values select different behavioural strategies in social dilemmas. Specifically, building on Pruitt and Kimmel's (1977) goal/expectation theory and our review of the literature, we suggest that the relationship between SVO and cooperative behaviour is mediated by (1) a cooperative goal and (2) the specific expectations concerning alters' behaviour. We also propose that trust and goal alignment are important contextual moderators of this relationship: for prosocials, cues signalling trust are necessary to generate positive expectations regarding alters' behaviour, whereas proselfs need external incentives to align their personal interest with a cooperative goal. We conclude this review by pointing to several avenues for future research that would help to deepen our understanding of the role of SVO in human cooperation.