Ring Measure of Social Values

  • Liebrand, W. B. G. (1984). The effect of social motives, communication and group size on behaviour in an n-person multi-stage mixed-motive game. European Journal of Social Psychology, 14(3), 239-264.DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2420140302
  • Liebrand, W. B. G., & McClintock, C. G. (1988). The ring measure of social values: A computerized procedure for assessing individual differences in information processing and social value orientation. European Journal of Personality, 2(3), 217-230.DOI: 10.1002/per.2410020304
  • McClintock, C. G. (1978). Social values: Their definition, measurement and development. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 12(1), 121-137.


Table of Contents

Description

History of Use

References

Description:

Purpose
The ring measure is designed to assess interpersonal motivation, specifically social value orientation (SVO) or how individuals weigh their own outcomes vs. the outcomes of one or more others. It distinguishes between 4 orientations:
  • An altruistic orientation emphasizes maximizing the outcome of other(s).
  • A cooperative orientation emphasizes maximizing joint outcomes.
  • An individualistic orientation emphasizes maximizing own outcome.
  • A competitive orientation emphasizes maximizing relative advantage (own outcome minus outcome of other(s)).
Questions
24 scenarios in which participants choose 1 of 2 combinations of own outcome and other outcome
Sub-scales
None
Domain

Psychometrics

Sample items
  • Choose between:
    • A: $14.50 for me and -$3.90 for other
    • B: $13.00 for me and -$7.00 for other.

References:

Scale:
  • Liebrand, W. B. G. (1984). The effect of social motives, communication and group size on behaviour in an n-person multi-stage mixed-motive game. European Journal of Social Psychology, 14(3), 239-264.DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2420140302
  • McClintock, C. G. (1978). Social values: Their definition, measurement and development. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 12(1), 121-137.
Uses:
  • Cameron, L. D., Brown, P. M., & Chapman, J. G. (1998). Social value orientations and decisions to take proenvironmental action. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(8), 675-697.