The ring measure of social values: A computerized procedure for assessing individual differences in information processing and social value orientation

Abstract

Personality can be defined from a social standpoint as a more or less consistent system of orientations that influences an individual's decisions and behaviors regarding the allocation of resources to self and others. One of the more robust models for the measurement of an individual's interpersonal utilities is McClintock's social value approach (McClintock, 1972). In the present study, we evaluate the construct of social value by testing the hypothesis that the cognitive processing time of subjects should vary systematically as a function of the type of social value being expressed. Towards this end, the Ring Measure of Social Values (Liebrand, 1984) was administered to 61 male and 124 female subjects. As predicted, cooperators and competitors were observed to have longer response latencies than altruists and individualists. In addition, a Social Value by Outcome Structure interaction was observed, and explained by assuming that cooperators are more hesitant in making decisions involving negative outcomes for others, whereas competitors are more reluctant to assign positive outcomes to others. These research findings add further evidence regarding the validity to the construct of social value.