Psychological research indicates that much of human social behavior is regulated by the self and motivated by self-interest. However, the human species thrives, in part, because of sophisticated group functioning in which people put immediate self-interests aside temporarily to pursue broader collective goals. Theory and research regarding the motivational underpinnings of collective action have yet to consider fully how the self is implicated in behavior that places broader social concerns over immediate self-interest. If the self drives a great deal of human social behavior and is driven by self-interest, how could the self be mobilized to pursue collective goals? This research examines this question in the context of an expected natural disaster, the 2010 Fargo, North Dakota flood. Specifically, this research offers a shifting self model that suggests that the self-concept is flexible such that a collective threat (the expected flood) triggers broader conceptions of self to regulate behavior in the service of collective goals. Specifically, it is predicted that the prospect of a natural disaster that threatens a community will cause people to define themselves in terms of group membership (interdependent self-construal) instead of unique identity (independent self-construal). Furthermore, this heightened sense of interdependent self-construal is expected to increase community engagement (e.g., volunteering to put out sandbags, which will take place whether the flood occurs or not) which will in turn lead to a number of positive psychological states (e.g., increased feelings of self-esteem). To test these predictions, participants from the flood threatened community and participants from an unthreatened community will complete measures of perceived collective threat, self-definition (independent and interdependent self-construal), community engagement (e.g., volunteering), and other related psychological states (e.g., self-esteem, meaning) before the expected flood, during the time of the expected flood, and shortly after the expected flood. If a severe collective threat impacts self-definition as predicted, then participants in the threatened community should define themselves in interdependent terms to a greater extent than participants in unthreatened communities. Further, within the flood threatened community, the more participants perceive the flood as a serious threat to the community, the more they should define themselves in interdependent terms. In addition, if this shift in self-definition motivates collective action, level of interdependent self-construal should predict level of community engagement within the threatened community. If there is no flood, self-evaluations are expected to return to baseline levels once it is clear that no flood will occur.

This research will provide a deeper understanding of how individuals are motivated to act as a collective, putting aside their own immediate personal concerns in order to effectively confront a broader community threat. Communities and nations face a number of threats (e.g., natural disasters, crime, climate change) that require individuals to work together as a collective. Thus, any gained knowledge on the psychology of community engagement may prove vital for cities, government agencies, and other organizations wishing to inspire people to give of themselves to help the common good.

Project Report

People define themselves in both individual and social terms. For example, when people are thinking about the characteristics that make them unique (e.g., personal preferences and goals) the self is defined in individualistic terms. Social psychologists call this an independent self-construal. That is, the self is construed as independent from others. When people are thinking about the characteristics that connect them to others (e.g., social roles and group interests) the self is defined in more social or collectivistic terms. Social psychologists call this an interdependent self-construal. Research has demonstrated that people have both independent and interdependent self-construals and which self is most active is assumed to depend on a variety of cultural and social factors. However, to date, no research has examined real life events that may impact self-construal. This project focused on this issue. Specifically, this project asked the following question. What kind of event would increase people’s tendency to construe the self in more interdependent terms? This project took advantage of a natural disaster that was threatening a community to test the prediction that extreme collective threats (i.e., events that threaten to destabilize a community) motivate people to define themselves more interdependently in order to promote pro-social community engagement. Research indicates that much of human behavior is regulated by the self. After all, we are self-aware animals. Further, people are motivated to act in ways that benefit or protect the self. Therefore, how the self is construed (independently or interdependently) may have a significant impact on how people respond to feeling threatened. In order to successfully combat a threat to the community, people need to be able to work together. They need to prioritize collective goals in order to maintain order and efficiently respond to the threat. Thus, it would be in the best interest of the community if its members became more interdependent in their self-construals when the community is under threat. To explore this issue, this study compared a threatened to a non-threatened community to see if 1) a threat to the community makes people define the self more interdependently and 2) if this increased interdependence facilitates community engagement to help combat the threat. Specifically, in this research, participants from a community facing an historic flood or a nearby community not facing this threat were given questionnaires that measure independent and interdependent self-construal. Participants were also asked to indicate flood-fight volunteering behavior and general desire to be engaged in helping their community. These measures were given both prior to and after the flood threat. This research also looked at psychological outcomes such as belongingness and well-being. As predicted, participants in the threatened community evidenced significantly higher scores on the interdependent self-construal scale than participants in the non-threatened community. That is, participants in the threatened community did in fact define themselves in more interdependent terms than participants in the non-threatened community Also, this difference disappeared once the threat of flooding subsided. There was also evidence that higher levels of interdependent self-construal predicted greater volunteering efforts. Specifically, within the threatened community sample, community engagement (e.g., intentions to volunteer) increased as a function of how much participants believed the flood to be a serious threat. Concerning intellectual merit, this research provides the first examination of actual life events that trigger shifts in how people construe the self. Though previous research has shown that people can define themselves as independent or interdependent when cued to do so, no previous study had examined the environmental triggers of self-construal changes. Thus, this project makes an important contribution to theory and research on the self and self-definition. This project also makes an important contribution to theory and research on pro-social behavior as it highlights an important role for self-construal in community engagement. There are significant broader implications as well. Nations and communities face many threats that can only be combated if people are willing to put collective benefits over personal ones. For example, to effectively combat climate change, individuals need to support energy conservation which may require some personal sacrifice (e.g., carpooling instead of driving alone, using less water and power). The results of this project suggest that campaigns seeking to promote this behavior should aim to find ways to bring out people’s interdependent self-construals. The more people perceive themselves in terms of collective characteristics, the more likely they will be to prioritize collective goals over individual interests.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
1035486
Program Officer
Brett W. Pelham
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2010-06-15
Budget End
2011-05-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$39,837
Indirect Cost
Name
North Dakota State University Fargo
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Fargo
State
ND
Country
United States
Zip Code
58108