Social cooperation : redefining the self in self-interest
Date
1997
Authors
Morrison, Brenda Elizabeth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This thesis examines the social psychological process underlying social
cooperation. Reviews are presented of (a) the interdependence account of social
cooperation; and (b) the structure of and solutions to social dilemmas, the paradigm
through which social cooperation is studied. Based on these reviews, two assumptions
in this literature are then elaborated on: (i) the primacy of the individual self and (ii) the
conceptualization of the group. Building on this critique, a theoretical review of the
social identity account is then presented, through the development of social identity and
self-categorization theories. While both the interdependence and social identity accounts
grew from the work of the early interactionists -- Lewin, Asch and Sherif-- these
accounts are now fundamentally distinct. Interdependence theorists understand social
cooperation as a function of interdependence structure and transformational processes of
individuals; while, social identity theorists understand social cooperation as a function of
social context and categorization processes of individuals. While the latter approach
does not discount the role that objective interdependence can play in social identification,
it argues that interdependence, per se, can not account for the necessary and sufficient
conditions underlying social cooperation.
The empirical work of this thesis aims to build support for the social identity
approach to the understanding of social cooperation. Specifically, the hypothesis to be
tested is that social cooperation is the product of a salient social identity. The empirical
strategy is to build a systematic account of social cooperation from a self-categorization
perspective while targeting the fundamental theoretical constructs of interdependence
theory, specifically the role of objective interdependence and the transformational
processes of social value orientations. The role of objective interdependence is examined
in Experiment 1, 3, and 4, and social value orientations in Experiment 2. Finally,
Experiment 5 directly tests the hypothesis that social cooperation is the product of a
salient social identity through a manipulation of salience of social identification.
These findings are considered in relation to the theoretical approaches reviewed,
with the conclusion being reached that interdependence, per se, can not account for the
necessary and sufficient conditions underlying social cooperation. In contrast, the
findings show general support for the self-categorization account of the social
psychological mechanism underlying social cooperation. This theoretical analysis allows
us to re-define the self in self-interest.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Collections
Source
Type
Thesis (PhD)
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
License Rights
Restricted until
Downloads
File
Description