DOI:10.6129/CJP.202206_64(2).0004
Chinese Journal of Psychology 2022, Vol.64, No.2, 191-216

Social Value Orientations on Resource Allocation: The Moderation Analysis of Relationship Closeness and Competitive Situation

Tzu-I Fang(Department of Adult & Continuing Education, National Taiwan Normal University), Chun-Yu Kuo(Department of Adult & Continuing Education, National Taiwan Normal University)

Abstract

Since resources are limited, resource allocation is a major issue in psychology. The decision-making process underlying resource allocation is complicated and influenced by numerous factors. Social value orientation is a continuous construct for representing the preference for resource allocation. The triple-dominance measure of social value orientation is a frequently used instrument for predicting real-life behavior. Social value orientation has been treated as a stable psychological attribute across various situations. However, it’s easily affected and involves the process of resource allocation considering the closeness between oneself and others. In the present study, the closeness between oneself and others was manipulated across the experiments to systematically investigate how closeness affects the process of resource allocation. The results demonstrated that the allocated resources varied with different degrees of closeness, and individuals with different social value orientations showed different patterns of resource allocation.

Keywords: closeness, competitive situation, resource allocation, social value orientation