Abstract
This study compares two models of motivation for cooperative behavior in groups. Those models are the resource-based social exchange model and the status-based social identity model. A comparison of the two models suggests that both are important in understanding cooperation in groups. However, issues of identity are relatively more important antecedents of cooperation, especially in the case of discretionary cooperative behavior. Further, identity also has a strong influence on attitudes and values, which themselves have been linked to discretionary behavior. Hence, identity issues dominate people’s motivation to voluntarily cooperate with the groups to which they belong.
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