Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T11:14:47.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Towards a Characterization of a Motive whose Ultimate Goal is to Increase the Welfare of the World: Quixoteism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Sergio Salgado  and
Luis Oceja
Sergio Salgado*
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Luis Oceja*
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Luis Oceja or Sergio Salgado. Ciudad Universitaria Cantoblanco (UAM). Facultad de Psicología, Despacho 83. 28049 Madrid. (Spain). E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected]
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Luis Oceja or Sergio Salgado. Ciudad Universitaria Cantoblanco (UAM). Facultad de Psicología, Despacho 83. 28049 Madrid. (Spain). E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We use the term Quixoteism to refer to a new social motive. The characterization of this motive deals with two aspects: the definition of the ultimate goal (i.e., to increase the welfare of the world) and the proposal of a process that activates it (i.e., a transcendental-change orientation). Three studies were conducted to test this characterization. In Study 1 we developed an empirical measure of the transcendental-change orientation. The participants in Studies 2 and 3 were presented with a need situation. Results showed that the centrality of such an orientation was directly related to an interpretation consistent with the ultimate goal of Quixoteism (Study 2), and that its salience increases the likelihood of performing a high-cost prosocial behavior (Study 3).

Se propone la existencia de un motivo social que hemos denominado Quijotismo. La caracterización de este motivo comprende dos aspectos: la definición de un fin último diferenciado (i.e., mejorar el bienestar del mundo) y la propuesta de un proceso que facilita su activación (i.e., orientación al cambio trascendente). Se realizaron tres estudios para contrastar empíricamente dicha caracterización. En el Estudio 1 se desarrolló una medida operativa de la orientación al cambio trascendente. A los participantes de los Estudios 2 y 3 se les presentó una situación de necesidad. Los resultados mostraron que la centralidad de dicha orientación está relacionada con una interpretación consistente con el fin último de mejorar el bienestar del mundo (Estudio 2), y que su saliencia aumenta la probabilidad de realizar una conducta prosocial de alto coste (Estudio 3).

Keywords

social motiveQuixoteismprosocial behaviorQuijotismomotivo socialconducta prosocial
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , May 2011 , pp. 145 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agis, I. F., Carmona, E., Fuentes, L., & Catena, A. (1996). Mecanismos inhibitorios de la atención selectiva: Una revisión [Inhibiting mechanisms of the selective attention]. Revista de Psicología General y Aplicada, 50, 359–370.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Toward a social-psychological answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D. (1994). Why act for the public good? Four answers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 603–610. doi:10.1177/0146167294205016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batson, C. D. (1998). Altruism and Prosocial Behavior. In Gilbert, D. T., Fiske, S. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.). Handbook of social psychology, 4th ed. (Vol. 2, pp. 282–316). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., & Lishner, D. A. (2009). Empathy and altruism. In Lopez, S. J., & Snyder, C. R. (Eds.). Oxford handbook of positive psychology 2nd ed., (pp. 417–426). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., Powell, A., Stocks, E. L., Shah, J., & Gardner, W. L. (2008). Prosocial Motivation. In Shah, J. Y., & Gardner, W. L. (Eds.). Handbook of motivation science (pp. 135–149). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., & Tsang, J. (2002). Four motives for community involvement. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 429–445. doi: 10.1111/1540-4560.00269CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batson, C. D., Dyck, J. L., Brandt, J. R., Batson, J. G., Powell, A. L., McMaster, M. R., & Griffitt, C. (1988). Five studies testing two new egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 52–77. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.1.52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batson, C. D., Fultz, J., & Schoenrade, P. A. (1987). Distress and empathy: Two qualitatively distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences. Journal of Personality, 55, 19–40. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00426.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batson, C. D., & Powell, A. (2003). Altruism and Prosocial behavior. In Millon, T., & Lerner, M. (Eds.). Handbook of psychology: Personality and social psychology (Vol. 5, pp. 463–484). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bierhoff, H. W. (2002). Volunteerism. In Bierhoff, H. W. (Ed.). Prosocial Behavior (pp. 313–323). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Burnstein, E., Crandall, C., & Kitayama, S. (1994). Some neo-Darwinian decisions rules of altruism: Weighing cues for inclusive fitness as a function of biological importance of the decision. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 773–789. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.5.773CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social Influence: Social Norms, Conformity and Compliance. In Gilbert, D., Fiske, S., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.). The Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed. (Vol. 2, pp. 151–192). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Clayton, S. (2003). Environmental identity: A conceptual and an operational definition. In Clayton, S., & Opotow, S. (Eds.). Identity and the natural environment (pp. 45–65). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feather, N. T. (1995). Values, valences, and choice: the influence of values on the perceived attractiveness and choice of alternatives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 1135–51. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.68.6.1135CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York, NY: Wiley. doi:10.1037/10628-000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haidt, J. (2003). Elevation and the positive psychology of morality. In Keyes, C. L. M., & Haidt, J. (Eds.). Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived (pp. 275–289). Washington DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10594-012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hitlin, H., & Piliavin, J. A. (2004). Values: Reviving a dormant concept. Annual Review of Psychology, 30, 359–393. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110640Google Scholar
Kant, I. (1781). Crítica de la razón pura [Critique of pure reason]. Ed., 1978. Madrid: Alfaguara. doi: 10.1037/11654-000 (English versión translated by Meiklejhon, J. M. D.)Google Scholar
Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science. New York, NY: Harper.Google Scholar
Oceja, L., & Berenguer, J. (2009). Putting text in context: The conflict between pro-ecological messages and anti-ecological descriptive norms. The Spanish Journal of Psychology. 12, 657–666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oceja, L., & Jiménez, I. (2007). Beyond egoism and group identity: Empathy toward the other and awareness of others in a social dilemma. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 10, 369–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schoroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial Behavior: Multilevel Perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365–92. doi:10.1146/annurev. psych.56.091103.070141CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérez-Albéniz, A., de Paúl, J., Etxeberría, J., Montes, M. P., & Torres, E. (2003). Adaptación de Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) al español [Adaptation to Spanish of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)]. Psicothema, 15, 267–272.Google Scholar
Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F. B. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25, 1–72. doi:10.1017/S0140525X02000018CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York, NY: Free Press.Google Scholar
Ros, M., & Schwartz, S. (1995). Jerarquía de valores de la Europa Occidental: una comparación transcultural [Hierarchy of values of Western Europe: a cross-cultural comparison]. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 69, 69–88. doi:10.2307/40183777CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, M. J., Schwartz, S. H., Steyer, R., & Schmitt, T. (1993). Measurement models for the Schwartz Values Inventory. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 9, 107–121.Google Scholar
Schultz, W., & Tabanico, J. (2007). Self, identity, and the natural environment: Exploring implicit connections with nature. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 1219–1247. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00210.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theory and empirical tests in 20 countries. In Zanna, M. (Ed.). Advances in experimental social psychology, (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). New York, NY: Academic Press. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60281-6Google Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Are there universal aspects in the content and structure of values? Journal of Social Issues, 50, 19–45. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1994.tb01196.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H., Verkasalo, M., Antonovsky, A., & Sagiv, L. (1997). Value priorities and social desirability: Much substance, some style. British Journal of Social Psychology, 36, 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silver, J., & Haidt, J. (2008). Moral elevation can induce nursing. Emotion, 8, 291–295. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.8.2.291CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strahan, R., & Gerbasi, K. C. (1972). Short, homogeneous versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 191–193. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(197204)28:2<191::AID-JCLP2270280220>3.0.CO;2-G3.0.CO;2-G>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verplanken, B., & Holland, R. W. (2002). Motivated decision making: Effects of activation and self-centrality of values on choices and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 434–447. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.3.434CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zaleskiewicz, T. (2001). Beyond Risk Seeking and Risk Aversion: Personality and the Dual Nature of Economic Risk Taking. European Journal of Personality, 15, 105–122. doi:10.1002/per.426CrossRefGoogle Scholar