We employ a laboratory experiment to study the relative relevance of social value orientations and group norms for the recognition of others’ needs. According to the Model of Frame Selection the definition of the situation is as important as the mode of information processing and variation in social preferences in the explanation of human behavior. Goal Frame Theory, in turn, systematizes possible frames into three main categories of goals, that is, the hedonic, the gain, and the normative frame. In this paper we ask whether goal frames affect the recognition of others’ needs in a distribution game. In the first stage of the experiment, we measure and elicit distributive preferences as a result of induced goal frames, aggregated into a signal of shared group preference. Then, subjects play a distribution game in three-line networks in which they negotiate in dyads about the allocation of points to group members. If a dyad agrees on a distribution of the points, this distribution is implemented. In order to reach the final stage of the period, in which further points can be earned by individually accomplishing tasks, subjects need to satisfy a threshold of some minimum number of points, which varies across individuals. We expect the satisfaction of needs thresholds of “third players” who are not part of the agreeing dyads to vary with the preferences that are induced by the goal frames. Without any signal of a prevailing group norm, we expect the satisfaction of own needs to be the dominant motive of action, which also depends on social value orientations. After a signal suggesting the prevalence of egoistic preferences in the group, we expect the satisfaction of the third players’ needs to decline, whereas we expect it to rise after a signal of the prevalence of a norm of need-based justice. Inter alia, we find that the display of a signal indicating the prevalence of a norm promoting a need-based distribution enhances the probability of need satisfaction, compared to situations where no signal or an egoistic signal were displayed.