Why prosocials exhibit greater cooperation than proselfs: The roles of social responsibility and reciprocity

Two studies examined the choice differences between prosocials and proselfs by examining the influence of norms of social responsibility and reciproci ty. In line with the integrative model of social value orientation, it was expected that prosocials differ from proselfs in their level of cooperation because they wish to maximize own and other's outcomes (i.e. paralleling t he norm of social responsibility) and enhance equality in outcomes (i.e. pa ralleling the norm of reciprocity). Study 1 revealed that prosocials felt m ore responsible to further the group's interest than proselfs did and this social responsibility feeling appeared to account for choice differences. S tudy 2 revealed that prosocials were more likely to reciprocate their partn er's actions than were proselfs. Also, feelings of social responsibility di d not account for this observation, suggesting that enhancing joint outcome s and equality in outcomes constitute two relatively independent dimensions . The findings are discussed in light of the integrative model of social va lue orientation. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.