When do primes prime? The moderating role of the self-concept in individuals’ susceptibility to priming effects on social behavior

Using cooperative behavior in economic decision-making settings, we predicted and found that people’s susceptibility to priming influences is moderated by two factors: people’s chronic accessibility to a behavioral repertoire and people’s self-concept activation. In Experiment 1, we show that individuals highly consistent in their social value orientation (SVO) assimilate their behavior to their dispositions rather than to the primes, whereas the opposite effect is obtained among individuals with a low consistent SVO. In Experiment 2, we show that low consistent SVO individuals become less susceptible to priming influences when their self-concept is activated. These studies shed new light on individuals’ susceptibility to priming influences on social behavior. 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Behaviors are often under the influence of situational cues. Oneway social cognition research has operationalized situational influences is by relying on priming techniques. Primes can increase the accessibility of prime-consistent behavioral responses that orient social behavior (for reviews, see Bargh & Ferguson, 2000; Dijksterhuis, Chartrand, & Aarts, 2007; Wheeler & Petty, 2001). However, individuals are also characterized by dispositions that determine their behavior. The question then is under which conditions individuals are less susceptible to priming influences, such that their dispositions, rather than priming influences, determine their social behavior. The present paper studies the combined role of two factors attenuating behavioral priming effects. A first factor is individuals’ chronic accessibility to a class of behavioral responses, as determined by the strength of their selfconcept (Markus, 1977). Individuals with chronically accessible behavioral responses may be in general less susceptible to priming influences than are individuals for whom these behavioral responses are not or are less chronically accessible. A second factor is the activation of the self-concept (Carver & Scheier, 1981). Individuals may be in general less susceptible to priming influences when the self-concept is highly activated than when it is not. In two studies, we examined these propositions in the context of cooperative behavior in economic decision-making settings. We tested the influence of cooperation and competition related primes ll rights reserved. . on behavior for individuals differing in their Social Value Orientation (SVO), which refers to a relatively stable behavioral tendency with respect to cooperation (McClintock, 1972). In Experiment 1, we tested whether chronic access to a behavioral repertoire, as determined by the strength of individuals’ dispositions, can attenuate behavioral priming effects. Specifically, individuals with a high consistent SVO (i.e., who have a highly accessible chronic SVO) are less susceptible to priming influences than are individuals with a low consistent SVO (i.e., who have a less accessible chronic SVO). In Experiment 2, we demonstrated the important role of self-concept activation by showing that individuals with a less accessible chronic SVO can also become less susceptible to priming influences when their self-concept is activated. When do primes prime? It is well documented that exposure to trait and stereotype primes can affect social behavior. In a seminal paper by Bargh, Chen, and Burrows (1996), participants primed with rudeness interrupted a conversation faster than participants primed with politeness. In another experiment, participants exposed to elderly stereotype-related words walked down a hallway more slowly than did control participants. These effects have been widely replicated across many behavioral domains, such as helping behavior, cooperation behavior, and conforming/normative behavior (e.g., Aarts & Dijksterhuis, 2003; Epley & Gilovich, 1999; Hertel & Fiedler, 1994; Kay & Ross, 2003; Nelson & Norton, 2005; Neuberg, 1988; Smeesters, Wheeler, & Kay, in press; Utz, 2004; Utz, 212 D. Smeesters et al. / Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45 (2009) 211–216 Ouwerkerk, & Van Lange, 2004). However, individuals should not always be under the influence of primed constructs. Individuals also possess a self-concept (including traits, dispositions, attitudes) that can determine their behavioral responses. Individuals may differ in both the content and the strength of their self-concept (DeMarree, Petty, & Brinol, 2007; Epstein, 1983). Which of these factors, primes or self-concept, determines social behavior may in fact depend on a number of boundary conditions, two of which are discussed and examined here. Chronic accessibility of the self-concept Individuals with strong dispositions tend to possess highly accessible chronic self-concept content, which means that they tend to enact consistently the behavioral responses that are part of their self-concept (Wheeler, DeMarree, & Petty, 2007). This chronically active self-concept content likely makes individuals less susceptible to primes. In contrast, individuals with weaker dispositions possess less accessible chronic self-concept content. This means that they are less likely to consistently enact the behavioral responses as determined by their self-concept (Wheeler et al., 2007) and, instead, should be more susceptible to priming concepts. In sum, we argue that the behavior of individuals with a highly accessible self-concept is determined by their self-concept whereas the behavior of individuals with a less accessible self-concept is determined by priming influences. We tested this hypothesis in Experiment 1. Self-concept activation When behavioral responses are not chronically accessible, for instance because individuals have a weak disposition, situational primes may take precedence over such ‘weak’ internal tendencies. This should however not mean that individuals with less accessible self-concept content should always be susceptible to priming influences. Research suggested that individuals are less susceptible to situational cues when the self is made salient (Carver & Scheier, 1981; Dijksterhuis & Van Knippenberg, 2000). Hence, activating the self-concept may render action-relevant chronic self-concept more accessible, thereby increasing the likelihood that behavioral tendencies rather than primes orient behavior. Hence, individuals with less accessible self-concept content may be more resistant to priming influences when their self is activated in the situation compared to when the self is not activated. This hypothesis was tested in Experiment 2. The present research In two experiments, we gathered evidence for the role of the two proposed factors. We primed participants with religious, business, and neutral words, and examined the effects on decisions in economic decision-making situations. Religious and business concepts have been found to be associated with cooperation and competition, respectively (De Dreu, Yzerbyt, & Leyens, 1995). In addition to primes, we examined the influence of a disposition, part of individuals’ self-concept, that is known as Social Value Orientation (SVO). We also took into account the consistency of SVO, which reflects differences in the self-concept strength of SVO (Hertel & Fiedler, 1998). SVO is a relatively stable preference for specific patterns of outcomes for oneself and others (McClintock, 1972). The extant research supports a three-category typology of orientations, characterizing different types of individuals (Messick & McClintock, 1968; Van Lange, 1999): pro-socials tend to enact behaviors that maximize joint outcomes along with equality; individualists tend to maximize own outcomes; and competitors tend to maximize the relative advantage over other’s outcomes. Individualists and competitors both have a primary concern for own outcomes, absolutely or relatively, and are therefore considered as one group of pro-selfs (Sattler & Kerr, 1991; Van Lange & Liebrand, 1989). Past research revealed that relative to pro-selfs, pro-socials exhibit greater cooperation toward others and are more likely to exhibit reciprocity and concern with fairness in outcome distributions (Smeesters, Warlop, Van Avermaet, Corneille, & Yzerbyt, 2003; Van Lange, 1999). Next to differences in the (pro-social and pro-self) nature of SVO, there also tend to be differences in the consistency of individuals’ SVO. The consistency variable refers to the regularity in the choice pattern with which an individual’s type of SVO is measured. The Ring Measure of Social Values (Liebrand, 1984) has been developed to measure an individual’s SVO. This technique consists of several choice trials, each presenting different combinations of outcomes for the self vs. another person. Individuals must indicate on each trial which combination they prefer the most. Adding up all the preferred amounts of outcomes for the self and the other indicates an individual’s dominant (pro-social vs. pro-self) SVO. A maximal consistency score implies that an individual chooses all self/other outcome combinations consistent with his/her dominant SVO, but the score decreases when individuals choose according to another SVO on some trials. Differences in consistency reveal differences in the self-concept strength of SVO or differences in the extent to which individuals are motivated to enact their most dominant behavioral tendency (Hertel & Fiedler, 1998). Participants with a high consistent SVO tend to enact consistently their dominant (either pro-social or pro-self) behavioral tendencies and can be considered as ‘‘schematic” pro-socials or proselfs. Hence, they possess a highly accessible chronic pro-social or pro-self self-concept (Wheeler et al., 2007), which likely makes them in general more resistant to relevant primes. In contrast, participants with a low consistent SVO are less intended to consistently enact their dominant behavioral pro-social or pro-self tendencies. They possess less accessible chronic self-concept content (Wheeler et al., 2007) and, hence, should be more susceptible to relevant priming concepts. Following our theorizing, we expect high consistent SVO individuals to be less susceptible to priming influences than low consistent SVO individuals. Experiment 1 examined the moderating role of chronic accessibility of the self-concept on the impact of primed constructs on behavior. In Experiment 2, we examined low consistent SVO individuals’ susceptibility to priming influences as a function of selfactivation.