Thesis
Cultural differences in social values orientation: A closer look at cooperative behavior in preschool-age children
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
Summer 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004165
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/125091
Abstract
Social values orientation (SVO) refers to how an individual prefers to split resources between themselves and another person. Three identified and well-studied SVO's include individualist, competitive, and cooperative orientations (Knight, 1981; Van Lange, De Bruin, Otten, & Joireman, 1997). Two distinct motivations for cooperative behavior - egalitarianism and generosity - have often been conflated in SVO research. A newly developed methodology using simple resource allocation games allows researchers to disentangle these cooperative motives (Fehr, Bernhard, & Rockenbach, 2008). SVO is known to relate closely to cultural values, and cultural collectivists are more cooperative than cultural individualists, including during childhood (e.g., House et al., 2013, Knight, Bernal, & Carlo, 1995, Strand, Pula, & Downs, 2015). The present study was the first to examine whether cooperative behavior among cultural collectivist preschool-age children is more animated by generosity or egalitarianism, and cross-cultural comparisons were made with individualist and mixed background children. The Fehr and colleagues (2008) resource allocation task was administered to participants in their Head Start classrooms, and behavioral adjustment was measured using the teacher-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Goodman, 1994). Data were analyzed using a series of chi-square tests of significance and independent samples t-tests to compare group differences in regard to SVO. To test for a relationship between SVO and behavioral functioning in the classroom, and whether that relationship depends upon culture, an ANOVA and MANCOVA were conducted. Results indicating that cooperativeness is more common for collectivists were consistent with the literature, and tentative support was found for generosity as the motive for cooperative behavior among collectivists.
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Details
- Title
- Cultural differences in social values orientation
- Creators
- Erinn Elizabeth Savage
- Contributors
- Paul S Strand (Chair) - Washington State University, Department of PsychologyTammy Michele DeShazo Barry (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Graduate SchoolMaria Gartstein (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of Psychology
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900890769801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis