Striving for Success and Being Seen as Virtuous: The Impact of Achievement Values on Reputation Concerns

ABSTRACT Concerns about reputation often help constrain unethical behavior and promote prosocial behavior. In contrast, achievement values have an opposite relationship with these consequences and the antecedents of reputation concerns. However, from a competitive altruism perspective, achievement values may boost reputation concerns. In five studies, achievement values were associated with higher general reputation concerns (Study 1a, N = 351), which was also evident in the linguistic context (Study 1b, N = 462). Using different manipulation methods, achievement values were found to promote both general (Study 2, N = 70), and moral (Study 3, N = 64) reputation concerns. Furthermore, when presented with reputation cues, those valuing achievement had higher expectation of a good reputation and thus acted morally (Study 4, N = 191). The results suggest that although achievement values have been shown to directly harm cooperation, they play a positive role in maintaining reputation concerns. This implies that the long‐term outcomes of motivationally conflicting values may complement each other. When aiming to promote cooperation in achievement‐emphasizing environments, direct value interventions should be approached with caution; however, leveraging reputation rewards can be effective.