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Social Cognition, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1995, pp. 189-214
LAURA E. STEVENS AND SUSAN T. FISKE
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Socially motivated perceivers are potentially driven by a wide range of basic human motives, a wider range than so far addressed by theories of motivated social cognition. We suggest that the decidedly social context of our evolutionary past
facilitated five core social motives: to belong, to understand, to be effective, to find the world benevolent, and to maintain self-esteem. Survival is facilitated by group
membership, and we argue that all five motives facilitate successful belonging. An overview of motives previously proposed by diverse personality theorists reveals
a striking consensus with our five motives. The social survival perspective more
generally fits existing data and suggests new research directions.
The idea that social perception is influenced by the motivational rele
vance of the target dates back several decades (Bruner, 1957; Bruner &
Tagiuri, 1954; Jones & deCharms, 1957; Jones & Thibaut, 1958; Pepitone, 1950). More than four decade ago, Bruner and Tagiuri (1954) suggested,
"We may be predisposed to perceive selectively the behavior of another
and to infer.. .'character' or 'intentions,' in a manner congruent with our
own needs" (p. 640).
Granted, interest in motivation declined in the 60s and 70s as interest in a purely cognitive social psychology increased. However, present day
researchers in social cognition and person perception no longer consider
perceivers as simple cognitive misers determined to conserve mental
resources. Instead, social perceivers are viewed as motivated tacticians
who consider their social interaction goals before choosing cognitive strategies (for reviews,
Preparation of this manuscript supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH41801.
We thank Seymour Epstein, Tory Higgins, Ronnie Janoff-Bulman, Ervin Staub, well two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Susan T. Fiske, Depart
ment of Psychology, Tobin Hall, Box 37710, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-7710.
189
MOTIVATION AND COGNITION IN SOCIAL
LIFE: A SOCIAL SURVIVAL PERSPECTIVE
see Fiske, 1992, 1993; Fiske & Taylor, 1991; Kunda,
1990).
190 STEVENS AND FISKE
A good deal of current theory thus posits the operation of motives that guide social actors' perceptions. However, scant theory and research has investigated these motives. Reviews of motivation and cognition...