Antecedents and a moderator of cooperation and competition: Interdependence, attribution, and behavioral intents

Overall, the cooperation and competition literature can be classified into two distinct research paradigms that examined different research questions, operationlizations, and methodologies. The social interdependence approach examines the relative benefits of cooperation and competition, while the behavioral choice approach studies determinants of cooperative behaviors in dilemma situations. Based on the literature review, this study proposed a model of cooperation and competition, and due to feasibility issues tested a portion of the model. The model tested in this study answered two major research questions: (1) relative influences of goal interdependence, reward interdependence, and social value orientation on individuals' perception of their social interdependence; and (2) the role of attribution as a moderator of the relationship between perceived social interdependence and behavioral intents.;A laboratory experiment (N = 428) with vignettes manipulated and measured: Goal interdependence; Reward interdependence; Social value orientation; Perceived social interdependence; Attribution; and Behavioral Intents. The results indicated an individual's perception of his/her social situation is determined mostly by reward interdependence followed by goal interdependence, while the direct effect of an individual's social value orientation was minimal. Meanwhile, the hypothesized role of attribution as a moderator of the relationship between perceived social interdependence and behavioral intents was not found. However, further examination of the data indicated some interesting patterns that deserve future attention. Some significant differences were found in behavioral intents between internal and external attributions.;The findings of this study suggest more research attention should be paid to determinants of social interdependence perceptions and individual level of behavioral intents. Individual level of behaviors and behavioral intents may explain some contradictory findings in the literature. In addition, manipulation of attribution through feedback and its impact on behavioral intents need further investigation. In sum, the findings of this study provide more potential research opportunities. In practice, these results also provide direction for managing team goals, reward systems, and creating performance feedback.