Social cooperation : redefining the self in self-interest

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.