Leiden University Student Repository

Agbenyo, Jennifer (2021)

The Target Class Effect: Facilitation by Need Concerns and Attenuation by Moral Identity

Master thesis | Psychology (MSc)

Perceptions about one’s social class has social consequences on interactional decision making. Studies have shown that the social class of an interaction partner (i.e., the target) predicts how prosocial one will be towards this target. Lower-class targets elicit greater prosociality than higher-class targets, known as the target class effect. The present study (N = 294) replicated this effect in the US with an online survey. We operationalized social mindfulness (SoMi) as a measure for prosociality, while manipulating target class with information about the target’s position on a social ladder. The objective was to explore fairness and moral perspectives as underlying explanations for the target class effect. We proposed that need-based distributive fairness preference (i.e., taking the needs of others into consideration when allocating resources) and moral identity will facilitate and attenuate the target class effect respectively. Our findings did not support these expectations....Show morePerceptions about one’s social class has social consequences on interactional decision making. Studies have shown that the social class of an interaction partner (i.e., the target) predicts how prosocial one will be towards this target. Lower-class targets elicit greater prosociality than higher-class targets, known as the target class effect. The present study (N = 294) replicated this effect in the US with an online survey. We operationalized social mindfulness (SoMi) as a measure for prosociality, while manipulating target class with information about the target’s position on a social ladder. The objective was to explore fairness and moral perspectives as underlying explanations for the target class effect. We proposed that need-based distributive fairness preference (i.e., taking the needs of others into consideration when allocating resources) and moral identity will facilitate and attenuate the target class effect respectively. Our findings did not support these expectations. Implications, limitations, and future directions are further discussed.Show less

perceived social class

moral identity

distributive fairness

social mindfulness

prosocial behaviour

Author

Agbenyo, Jennifer

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Supervisors

Doesum, N. van

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en