Fundamental Motives Research Articles

Self-interest overrides rank-reversal aversion in resource distribution

The equitable allocation of resources has long been a central concern for humanity, prompting extensive research into various motivations that drive the pursuit of distributive justice. In contrast to one of the most fundamental motives, inequality aversion, a conflicting motive has been proposed: rank-reversal aversion. However, it remains unclear whether this rank-reversal aversion persists in the presence of self-rank. Here we provide evidence of rank-reversal aversion in the first-party context and explore diverse moral strategies for distribution. In a modified version of the redistribution game involving 55 online-recruited participants, we observed rank-reversal aversion only when one’s rank was maintained. When participants’ self-rank was altered, they tended to base their behavior on their new ranks. This behavioral tendency varied among individuals, revealing three distinct moral strategies, all incorporating considerations of rank-reversal. Our findings suggest that rank-reversal aversion can indeed influence one’s distribution behavior, although the extent of its impact may vary among individuals, especially when self-rank is a factor. These insights can be extended to political and economic domains, contributing to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of distributive justice.

Dampak Ganda Persepsi Karyawan dan Kemandirian terhadap Hasil Kinerja

Quality feedback is essential for performance reviews to positively influence employees' behavior. This study explores two novel relationships between staff members' perceptions and employee performance. An analysis of personnel indicators suggests that the connections between performance evaluations of various forms of self-employment and personal development are mediated by employees' fundamental motivations and significantly influenced by their independence. This finding underscores the critical role of self-reliance in the relationship between overall performance and perceived performance improvements. It is crucial to highlight the implications of employee engagement in conjunction with independence and freedom. Incorporating employees with a high degree of independence into comprehensive performance reviews may enhance their confidence. The study concludes that while communication improves for employees whose independence is at risk, it deteriorates for those who are committed to maintaining their independence. The primary goal of this research is to compare two different models that link employee perceptions to performance outcomes. The relationship between perceived performance evaluations and actual performance is determined by employees' fundamental motives and is strongly supported by their independence. The most significant finding is how self-regulation measures the association between perceived enhanced performance ratings and actual performance. Consequently, the implications for fostering employee participation, independence, and freedom should be emphasized. This may encourage the use of performance appraisals that involve employees with high levels of independence. The study also summarizes that while relationships are positive for employees with lower independence, they are negative for those with strong autonomy.

Motivations to Enhance One’s Facial Hair: Affiliation, Rivalry, and Stress

Facial hair is a sexually dimorphic trait with potential evolutionary and sociocultural functions. Bearded men are perceived as dominant, aggressive, and masculine, but also as having better parenting skills. Men may intentionally manage the amount and shape of their facial hair as a part of their self-promotion strategy; however, facial hair management entails costs in terms of time, effort, and money. We explored psychological factors associated with facial hair enhancement motivation among men. A total of 414 men (aged 18–40 years) reported the current amount of their facial hair along with their facial hair enhancement motivations, gender role stress, intrasexual competitiveness, and fundamental social motives. Willingness to care for facial hair was associated with the amount of facial hair men claimed to have and correlated with the fundamental social motives of affiliation and social status, intrasexual competition, and gender role stress. Therefore, facial hair enhancement may be regarded as a self-presentation strategy aimed at acquiring a beneficial position in social networks.

When social status gets in the way of reproduction in modern settings: An evolutionary mismatch perspective

AbstractLow fertility is a growing concern in modern societies. While economic and structural explanations of reproductive hindrances have been informative to some extent, they do not address the fundamental motives that underlie reproductive decisions and are inadequate to explain why East Asian countries, in particular, have such low fertility rates. The current paper advances a novel account of low fertility in modern contexts by describing how modern environments produce a mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and the inputs they were designed to process, leading to preoccupations with social status that get in the way of mating and reproductive outcomes. We also utilize developed East Asian countries as a case study to further highlight how culture may interact with modern features to produce ultralow fertility, sometimes to the extent that people may give up on parenthood or even mating altogether. Through our analysis, we integrate several lines of separate research, elucidate the fundamental dynamics that drive trade-offs between social status and reproductive effort, add to the growing literature on evolutionary mismatch, and provide an improved account of low fertility in modern contexts.

Eyes on the prize: Narcissism and visual attention to status and affiliation

This eye tracking study tested the hypothesis that narcissists’ visual attention is motivated, focusing on two fundamental social motives: status and affiliation. We measured participants’ full narcissism spectrum (narcissistic agency, antagonism, and neuroticism) via self-reports. We measured visual attention to status and affiliation images via eye-tracking in the lab. We hypothesized that narcissistic agency would relate to increased attention to status, and that narcissistic antagonism would relate to increased attention to status and decreased attention to affiliation. We formulated no hypotheses regarding narcissistic neuroticism. Results showed that only agentic narcissism was related to increased attention toward status. The three forms of narcissism were unrelated to attention to affiliation. These findings suggest that agentic narcissists’ attention is driven by an underlying status motive. More broadly, findings are consistent with the notion that visual attention expresses and maintains people’s personality traits via satisfying trait-congruent motives.

Evolving motivations? Cross-cultural data show links between fundamental social motives and fertility.

Evolving motivations? Cross-cultural data show links between fundamental social motives and fertility.

Supplemental Material for Evolving Motivations? Cross-Cultural Data Show Links Between Fundamental Social Motives and Fertility

Supplemental Material for Evolving Motivations? Cross-Cultural Data Show Links Between Fundamental Social Motives and Fertility

Purpose reflection benefits minoritized students’ motivation and well-being in STEM

Students from groups historically excluded from STEM face heightened challenges to thriving and advancing in STEM. Prompting students to reflect on these challenges in light of their purpose can yield benefits by helping students see how their STEM work connects to fundamental motives. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to test potential benefits of reflecting on purpose—their “why” for pursuing their degrees. This multimethod study included 466 STEM students (232 women; 237 Black/Latinx/Native students). Participants wrote about their challenges in STEM, with half randomly assigned to consider these in light of their purpose. Purpose reflection fostered benefits to beliefs and attitudes about the major, authentic belonging, and stress appraisals. Effects were robust across race and gender identities or larger for minoritized students. Structural and cultural shifts to recognize students’ purpose in STEM can provide a clearer pathway for students to advance.

Advancing the study of fitness-related motivational forces: The links between reproductive motivation and fundamental social motives

Advancing the study of fitness-related motivational forces: The links between reproductive motivation and fundamental social motives

Family support during childhood as a predictor of mate retention and kin care in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: an exploratory study.

Experiences during development help to explain behavior expression in adulthood. In this study, we explored how unpredictability and harshness experienced during childhood may have impacted the occurrence of reproductive milestones in adulthood and the expression of fundamental motives related to self-protection, disease avoidance, mate seeking, mate retention, and kin care (children/family) during the pandemic. This was an exploratory study with 438 participants. Through the administration of online questionnaires, participants were assessed and categorized based on their childhood experiences, resulting in three groups: low unpredictability, high unpredictability with family support, and high unpredictability without family support. We found that family support experienced during childhood predicts a slow life-history strategy. This involves an emphasis on growth and parenting efforts at the expense reproduction and was relevant even for participants who faced financial unpredictability. During the pandemic, we also observed that mate retention and kin care (family) motives were predominant among individuals who had greater family support during childhood. Overall, the findings suggest that unpredictability experienced during childhood is crucial for the development of life-history strategies and the manifestation of fundamental motives in adulthood.

For me, for you, or for the environment? Explaining young consumers’ motives for adopting electric cars based on the fundamental motive framework

PurposeElectric cars (EC) adoption represents a strategic action aimed at promoting environmental sustainability. Although Millennials and Gen Z represent the greatest potential market for EC, their adoption remains low; thus, this study focused on examining the role of motive in predicting EC adoption intention within these two generations’ population. Built upon the fundamental motive framework, this research explores the motives that lead to EC adoption intention. Subsequently, this study aims to examine the role of performance expectancy as the mediating variable and EC attributes beliefs as the moderating variable that can promote EC adoption intention.Design/methodology/approachBoth exploratory and confirmatory methods were used in this investigation. Using an exploratory approach, this research explores the fundamental motives and the attributes of EC that influence EC adoption intention. Using a confirmatory approach, this research tests the mediating role of performance expectancy. To collect the data, an online survey was administered to 260 young consumers in Indonesia.FindingsThe results of PLS-SEM analysis from the data revealed that self-protection, kin-care, status and affiliative motives influence EC adoption. Furthermore, performance expectancy mediates the relationship between self-protection, mate acquisition, affiliative motives and EC adoption intention. Among EC attributes, the short-haul performance strengthens the indirect relationship between affiliative motive and EC adoption intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study is that it only focuses on the practical attributes of EC, whereas psychological attributes that were found to be more influential in consumer’s purchase decisions were not examined.Practical implicationsMarketers need to explore EC attributes that can strengthen the relationship between consumers’ motives and EC adoption intention by increasing consumers’ evaluation of performance expectancy. In this study, marketers can promote short-haul performance, as it will lead to EC adoption for consumers with affiliative motives.Originality/valueThis study ties together two lines of research on the adoption of EC, exploring EC attributes and examining consumers’ motivation to choose EC, especially Millennials and Gen Z. In this way, EC attributes facilitate the fulfillment of consumers’ needs and promote EC adoption intention.

When and why we ostracize others: Motivated social exclusion in group contexts.

Research on ostracism has mostly focused on ostracized targets' reactions to being excluded and ignored. In contrast, the ostracizing sources' perspective and reasons for why individuals decide to ostracize others are still a largely unexplored frontier for empirical research. We propose two fundamental motives situated in the target's behavior that drive motivated ostracism decisions for the benefit of one's group: A perceived norm violation of the target and perceived expendability of the target for achieving group goals. Two survey studies and five experiments (total N = 2,394, all preregistered) support our predictions: When asked to recall a recent ostracism decision and the motives for it, participants reported both perceived norm violations and/or expendability of the target as motives (Study 1). Switching to the target perspective, the frequency of experienced ostracism was associated with both self-perceived norm violations and expendability (Study 2). In five experiments (Studies 3-7), participants consistently choose to ostracize targets more often when they perceived them to be either norm-violating, or inept in a skill important for the group and thus expendable. Additionally, Studies 5-7 show that strategic considerations about the requirements of the situational context influence ostracism decisions: Participants were more likely to ostracize norm-violating targets in cooperative contexts, and more likely to ostracize inept targets in performance contexts. Results have strong theoretical implications for research on ostracism and group dynamics, as well as for interventions targeting ostracism behavior: Particularly, adjusting the requirements of the situational context might be a viable option to decrease ostracism and promote inclusion in groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

What social lives do single people want? A person-centered approach to identifying profiles of social motives among singles.

Despite the worldwide increase in unpartnered individuals (i.e., singles), little research exists to provide a comprehensive understanding of the heterogeneity within this population. In the present research (N = 3,195), we drew on the fundamental social motives framework to provide a theory-based description and understanding of different "types" of single individuals. Across two Western samples (primarily European and American) and one Korean sample (all collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021), we identified three groups of singles with relatively consistent motivational patterns: (a) singles with strong independence motives and little interest in affiliation, mating, or status (i.e., independent profile); (b) singles with great interest in self-protection as well as social connections and status (i.e., socially focused profile); and (c) singles with little interest in self-protection but moderate interest in affiliation (i.e., low safety focus profile). Notably, these profile features did not perfectly replicate in one smaller Western sample collected before the pandemic (particularly the low safety focus profile), highlighting the need to interpret the data with the historical background in mind. Across samples, the independence-oriented group of singles consistently reported greater satisfaction with singlehood compared to other groups. The three groups of singles also showed substantial differences in other affective and behavioral variables (e.g., how they spend their social time). These findings advance the growing body of research on singlehood by offering new theoretical perspectives on different types of singles. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring fundamental motives of tourists visiting dark tourism sites

ABSTRACT Evolutionary psychology offers new potential to understand the motivation of tourists visiting dark sites. This study first identified four fundamental motives (kin care, exploration, affiliation, and status) related to dark tourism contexts, and then examined their relationships with proximal motives and disaster perception. Results found that fundamental motives positively affected corresponding proximate motives and mediated the relationships between disaster perception and proximate motives, and gender and prior experience had moderating effects. This study contributes to better understanding the fundamental psychological mechanisms of tourists visiting dark sites and has some practical implications for these sites' marketing and management.

Focusing on Safety or Pleasure Determine Condom Use Intentions Differently Depending on Condom Availability and STI Risk

Objective Regulatory Focus Theory suggests that goal pursuit is driven by two separate and fundamental motives. Being more focused on prevention motivates people to enact safer behaviors and avoid negative outcomes (e.g., to prevent diseases), whereas being more focused on promotion motivates people to take risks and pursue pleasurable experiences (e.g., condomless sex). Methods A quasi-experimental study (N = 476) examined if differences in regulatory focus (i.e., prevention vs. promotion) determined condom use intentions with a prospective casual partner, depending on condom availability delay and STI risk cues. Results Participants focused on prevention (vs. promotion) were less likely to consider having condomless sex across condom availability delays conditions. However, STI risk cues changed condom use intentions. When STI risk was lower, condom use intentions decreased as condom availability delays increased (particularly for participants focused on promotion). When STI risk was higher, condom use intentions were stronger and consistent across condom availability delays (particularly for participants focused on prevention). Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of distinct sexual motives when examining sexual health practices.

Fear: The Roots of Dehumanization Among Human Beings

Currently available research on dehumanization suggests that the antecedents of dehumanization can be attributed to two intrinsic causes at the cognitive and emotional levels, and three extrinsic causes at the level of power of others, external threats, and social relations. Such behavior of dehumanization and objectification of others, where we spend some attention to discover the common ground, may eventually lead us in one direction: Fear. When a person feels weak and threatened, he/she tends to do things that don’t see others as human beings to vent their aggression. In modern civilization, all human behavior stems from only two different, most fundamental motives, one of which is motivated by love and one by fear. Love is a product of the evolution of the human mind and consciousness, while fear governs the most basic physiological and survival needs of human beings.

COVID-19 symptoms and compliance: The mediating role of fundamental social motives.

Understanding the compliance of infected individuals and the psychological process underlying compliance during pandemics is important for preventing and controlling the spread of pathogens. Our study investigated whether fundamental social motives mediate the relationship between having infectious disease and compliance. An online survey was conducted in March 2020, during the severe phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China to collect data from 15,758 participants. The survey comprised self-report questionnaires with items pertaining to current symptoms (COVID-19 symptoms, other symptoms or no symptoms), the Fundamental Social Motive Inventory, and measures of compliance. Correlation analysis, linear regression analysis, and structural equation model were used for data analysis. The participants with COVID-19 symptoms had lower levels of compliance than those without symptoms, and their lower compliance was caused by a decrease in disease avoidance (indirect effect = -0.058, 95% CI = [-0.061, -0.056]) and familial motives (indirect effect = -0.113, 95% CI = [-0.116, -0.062]). Whereas exclusion concern (indirect effect = 0.014, 95% CI = [0.011, 0.017]) suppressed the effects of COVID-19 symptoms on compliance, the effect disappeared in the multiple mediation model, while those of disease avoidance and familial motives remained. Our findings emphasize the critical role of disease avoidance and familial motives in promoting compliance with public health norms during pandemics and suggest that enhancing these motives may serve as an effective intervention strategy to mitigate noncompliance among potentially infected individuals.

Motivated to compete but not to care: The fundamental social motives of risk-taking behaviors

Based on the evolutionary framework of risk-taking, the present study aims to examine how the fundamental social motives relate to health risks, interpersonal risks and deviant non-violent behaviors as a function of sex and across different life stages of transitioning to adulthood. A total of 1370 Spanish adolescents and young individuals participated in the survey study. The results showed that status-seeking and kin care (family) were the principal social motives related to risk-taking behaviors. Specifically, status-seeking acted as a promoting factor of risk-taking behaviors, while kin care (family) exerted the opposite effect. Therefore, the results in general demonstrate the significant role of the fundamental social motives on risk-taking behaviors. The impact of sex and age group on the relationship between social motives and risk-taking behaviors is discussed.

Core social motives explain responses to collective action issues

AbstractManaging collective action issues such as pandemics and climate change requires major social and behavioral change. Dominant approaches to addressing these issues center around information provision and financial incentives to shift behavior, yet, these approaches are rarely effective without integrating insights from psychological research on motivation. By accurately characterizing human motives, social scientists can identify when and why individuals engage, and facilitate behavior change and public engagement. Here, we use the core social motives model to sort social psychological theories into five fundamental social motives: to Belong, Understand, Control, self‐Enhance, and Trust. We explain how each motive can improve or worsen collective action issues, and how this framework can be further developed towards a comprehensive social psychological perspective to collective action issues.

A joke for you, a status-boost for men: Men's tendency to tell affiliative jokes is related to their self-promotion style

A sense of humor is a desirable characteristic in both romantic and platonic relationships, and people communicate their sense of humor by telling jokes. However, there are sex differences in joking, so men tell jokes more often than women. Men’s benefits from joking correspond with such fundamental social motives, as mate seeking and mate retention, affiliation, and self-protection. However, less is known about the relation between tendency to tell jokes and more general styles of self-presentation, that is, tactical ways of behaving that can be used in many social interactions. In our study (N = 139 Polish men aged 18 to 60 [M = 29.94, SD = 11.66]), we wanted to examine the relationships between self-presentation styles (e.g., self-promotion and self-depreciation), humor styles (e.g., affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating), and tendency to tell jokes in adult men. We found that men focused on self-promotion produced humor more often and their humor styles contained more affiliative and self-enhancement aspects. Moreover, men's use of affiliative humor completely mediated the relationship between their self-promotion and their tendency to joke. We also found that men oriented on self-depreciation use more self-defeating humor, but their self-defeating motivation does not correlate with their tendency to joke. Our results suggest that men may tell jokes, especially those involving affiliative humor, to tactically achieve their self-promotion goals.