RAPID: Situationally Motivated Self-Construal and Collective Action: Do Collective Threats Motivate Prioritization of Group Goals via Heightened Interdependent Self-Construals?

心理学研究表明，人类的许多社会行为是由自我调节的，并由自我利益驱动。然而，人类物种的繁荣，部分是因为复杂的群体功能，人们暂时将直接的自我利益放在一边，以追求更广泛的集体目标。 关于集体行动的动机基础的理论和研究还没有充分考虑自我是如何与将更广泛的社会关注置于直接的自我利益之上的行为相关联的。如果自我驱动着大量的人类社会行为，并且是由自我利益驱动的，那么自我如何被动员起来追求集体目标呢？本研究在预期的自然灾害，2010年法戈，北达科他州洪水的背景下探讨这个问题。 具体而言，本研究提供了一个转变自我模型，表明自我概念是灵活的，这样一个集体的威胁（预期的洪水）触发更广泛的自我概念，以规范行为，为集体目标服务。具体而言，它预测，自然灾害的前景，威胁到一个社区将导致人们定义自己的群体成员（相互依存的自我概念），而不是独特的身份（独立的自我概念）。此外，这种相互依存的自我意识的提高预计将增加社区参与（例如，志愿去放沙袋，无论洪水是否发生都会发生），这反过来会导致许多积极的心理状态（例如，增强自尊心）。为了测试这些预测，来自受洪水威胁社区的参与者和来自未受威胁社区的参与者将完成感知集体威胁，自我定义（独立和相互依赖的自我认知），社区参与（例如，志愿服务），以及其他相关的心理状态（例如，自尊，意思是）在预期的洪水之前，在预期的洪水期间，在预期的洪水之后不久。如果一个严重的集体威胁影响自我定义的预测，那么在受威胁的社区的参与者应该定义自己在更大程度上比未受威胁的社区的参与者在相互依存的条款。此外，在受洪水威胁的社区内，越多的参与者将洪水视为对社区的严重威胁，他们就越应该以相互依存的方式来定义自己。此外，如果这种自我定义的转变激励集体行动，相互依存的自我意识水平应该预测受威胁社区内的社区参与程度。如果没有发生洪水，一旦明确不会发生洪水，自我评价预计将恢复到基线水平。 这项研究将提供一个更深入的了解个人是如何动机作为一个集体，把自己的直接个人的关注，以有效地面对更广泛的社区威胁。社区和国家面临着许多威胁（例如，自然灾害、犯罪、气候变化），需要个人作为一个集体共同努力。因此，任何关于社区参与心理学的知识都可能对城市、政府机构和其他希望激励人们为共同利益而奉献的组织至关重要。

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.