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A motivational hierarchy within: primacy of the individual self, relational self, or collective self?

A motivational hierarchy within: primacy of the individual self, relational self, or collective self?
A motivational hierarchy within: primacy of the individual self, relational self, or collective self?
The individual self, relational self, and collective self are important and meaningful aspects of identity. However, they plausibly differ in their relative importance such that one self lies closer to the motivational core of the self-concept, better represent the “home base” of selfhood, or, simply stated, is motivationally primary. Four multi-method studies tested the relative motivational-primacy of the selves. Despite their disparate methods, the studies yielded consistent evidence of a three-tiered hierarchy with the individual self at the top, followed by the relational self, and trailed at the bottom by the collective self. The same hierarchy emerged in the Eastern culture of China and the Western cultures of the US and UK. Such pancultural consistency suggests that the motivational hierarchy is a fundamental pattern of the human self.

self, motivation, culture
0022-1031
997-1013
Gaertner, Lowell
94e37daf-7d1b-431e-9df3-efad4f0bc91c
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Luke, Michelle
01ebd476-0d8c-4fba-97c3-38ccf2ac0c78
O'Mara, Erin
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Iuzzini, Jonathan
654a4874-99a3-4556-a1a7-ed8a60502508
Jackson, Lydia Eckstein
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Cai, Huajian
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Wu, Quiping
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Gaertner, Lowell
94e37daf-7d1b-431e-9df3-efad4f0bc91c
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Luke, Michelle
01ebd476-0d8c-4fba-97c3-38ccf2ac0c78
O'Mara, Erin
3ba857ec-22d4-45c7-a8a8-e8bc514a1704
Iuzzini, Jonathan
654a4874-99a3-4556-a1a7-ed8a60502508
Jackson, Lydia Eckstein
e7a5ca4c-5309-4df0-9e36-c73a073e1a25
Cai, Huajian
93a231d6-8e65-4781-883b-b85543a5ddfc
Wu, Quiping
8b5887f1-0257-4db1-be76-e638c8026f5c

Gaertner, Lowell, Sedikides, Constantine, Luke, Michelle, O'Mara, Erin, Iuzzini, Jonathan, Jackson, Lydia Eckstein, Cai, Huajian and Wu, Quiping (2012) A motivational hierarchy within: primacy of the individual self, relational self, or collective self? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48 (5), 997-1013. (doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.03.009).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The individual self, relational self, and collective self are important and meaningful aspects of identity. However, they plausibly differ in their relative importance such that one self lies closer to the motivational core of the self-concept, better represent the “home base” of selfhood, or, simply stated, is motivationally primary. Four multi-method studies tested the relative motivational-primacy of the selves. Despite their disparate methods, the studies yielded consistent evidence of a three-tiered hierarchy with the individual self at the top, followed by the relational self, and trailed at the bottom by the collective self. The same hierarchy emerged in the Eastern culture of China and the Western cultures of the US and UK. Such pancultural consistency suggests that the motivational hierarchy is a fundamental pattern of the human self.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: March 2012
e-pub ahead of print date: 19 March 2012
Published date: September 2012
Keywords: self, motivation, culture
Organisations: HRM and Organisational Behaviour

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 336128
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/336128
ISSN: 0022-1031
PURE UUID: c00ab0c4-4981-4ea4-b00e-2612c8408255
ORCID for Constantine Sedikides: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X

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Date deposited: 15 Mar 2012 16:37
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:02

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Contributors

Author: Lowell Gaertner
Author: Michelle Luke
Author: Erin O'Mara
Author: Jonathan Iuzzini
Author: Lydia Eckstein Jackson
Author: Huajian Cai
Author: Quiping Wu

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