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Related Experiment Video

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Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency

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Self-love or other-love? Explicit other-preference but implicit self-preference.

Jochen E Gebauer¹, Anja S Göritz, Wilhelm Hofmann

¹Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. mail@JochenGebauer.info

|August 1, 2012

Summary

Humans show dual preferences: explicitly favoring loved ones but implicitly preferring themselves. This finding supports the Dissociative Self-Preference Model, explaining evolutionary advantages of both social bonding and self-preservation.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology
Social Cognition

Background:

Human preference for self versus others is a long-standing question in philosophy and social sciences.
Psychology differentiates between explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) preferences.
Evolutionary pressures may have shaped distinct mechanisms for social bonding and self-preservation.

Purpose of the Study:

To test the Dissociative Self-Preference Model's hypotheses on explicit and implicit self-other preferences.
To investigate whether explicit preferences serve social bonding and implicit preferences serve self-interest.
To examine the evolutionary basis of self-deception in preference formation.

Main Methods:

Surveyed 1,519 participants on their preferences for self versus a favorite other.
Utilized one explicit and one of five implicit preference measurement tools.
Employed an evolutionary-based theoretical framework.

Main Results:

Explicit preferences revealed participants favored their favorite other over the self.
Implicit preferences demonstrated a bias towards the self over their favorite other.
Findings were consistent with the Dissociative Self-Preference Model's predictions.

Conclusions:

Human preference is context-dependent, with explicit and implicit measures yielding opposing results.
Explicit other-preference may facilitate social bonds, while implicit self-preference aids survival.
The study provides an evolutionary perspective on self-deception and preference.