The Self- and Other-Interest Inventory

• Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology Vol. 105; no. 3; p. 495
• Main Authors: Gerbasi, Margaret E, Prentice, Deborah A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.09.2013
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Female; Game Theory; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Middle Aged; Motivation; Narcissism; Personality Inventory; Psychological Tests; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Self Concept; Social Behavior; Social Desirability; Social Values; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1939-1315
• DOI: 10.1037/a0033483

Five studies develop and validate the Self- and Other-Interest Inventory, an individual-difference measure of the motivation to act in one's own interest and the motivation to act in another's interest that measures these motivations at the level of self-beliefs. Study 1 demonstrates that self- and other-interest can be measured reliably and validly, as independent constructs, with a self-report measure. Study 2 develops a version of the Self- and Other-Interest Inventory for use with a general population and demonstrates systematic changes in the relation between self- and other-interest scores with age. Study 3 shows that self- and other-interest scores vary independently, as a function of the accessibility of related values. Study 4 provides evidence that self-interest scores predict behaviors that benefit the self and that other-interest scores predict behaviors that benefit another person. Finally, Study 5 demonstrates that in situations that involve a trade-off between the pursuit of self-interest and the pursuit of other-interest, such as the prisoner's dilemma, self- and other-interest scores contribute independently to behavioral prediction.