Others-centeredness: A uniquely positive tendency to put others first

Is putting the interests of others ahead of one's own interests a virtuous tendency? Previous research has produced ambivalent results about this. Some existing constructs that involve prioritizing others' interests over one's own, such as unmitigated communion, are treated primarily as negative features of personality, while others, such as high other-focus, are treated primarily as positive features. This study involved developing a new scale to measure others-centeredness, a tendency derived from philosophical research which involves prioritizing others' interests over one's own because one judges each person's interests to be equally valuable while also valuing interpersonal unions. This scale is used in both correlational and experimental studies to demonstrate that others-centeredness is uniquely positively related to indicators of well-being when controlling for unmitigated communion and high other-focus, while the latter relate negatively to indicators of well-being, or lack positive associations with such, when controlling for others-centeredness. Accordingly, others-centeredness may be a uniquely positive, virtuous tendency to put others' interests first. •Develops a new twelve-item scale for measuring others-centeredness•Others-centeredness is more positive than unmitigated communion or high other-focus.•Others-centeredness predicts giving $2 bills to another person in a dictator game.•High other-focus and unmitigated communion predict emotional reactivity.