ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2025, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (6): 1083-1097.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1083 cstr: 32110.14.2025.1083

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    下一篇

好心没好报?主动帮助对同事关系的“双刃剑”影响

陈良勇, 曹仲怀, 万文海(), 张玮婷   

  1. 华侨大学工商管理学院/福建省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心华侨大学研究基地, 泉州 362021
  • 收稿日期:2022-10-26 发布日期:2025-04-15 出版日期:2025-06-25
  • 通讯作者: 万文海, Email: wwhwnwl@hqu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    福建省社会科学基金(FJB2023B058);国家自然科学基金(72272057);华侨大学中央高校基本科研业务费资助项目(HQHRZX-202302)

The double-edged sword effect of proactive helping behavior on coworker relationships

CHEN Liangyong, CAO Zhonghuai, WAN Wenhai(), ZHANG Weiting   

  1. School of Business, Huaqiao University/ Fujian Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China
  • Received:2022-10-26 Online:2025-04-15 Published:2025-06-25

摘要: 关于主动帮助行为与同事关系两者之间存在何种关系, 现有研究得出了相互矛盾的结论。基于情感事件理论和社会交换情感理论, 本研究揭示了主动帮助行为与受助者谦逊水平的交互对同事关系的“双刃剑”影响效应, 厘清了受助者情感反应——表达感恩与能力面子压力所发挥的中介作用。通过连续10个工作日的日记调查(研究1, N个体内 = 507, N个体间 = 53)和情境实验(研究2, N = 216)收集数据。结果表明:当受助者谦逊水平高时, 主动帮助行为会激发受助者表达感恩, 进而促进同事关系; 当受助者谦逊水平低时, 主动帮助行为会使受助者产生能力面子压力, 进而抑制同事关系。本研究不仅有助于解释主动帮助行为对同事关系复杂作用机理, 也为组织的健康发展提供了实践指导。

关键词: 主动帮助行为, 表达感恩, 能力面子压力, 谦逊, 同事关系

Abstract:

As a common form of interpersonal interaction in organizational settings, proactive helping behavior has a substantial influence on coworker relationships. Investigating this impact is essential with regard to efforts to establish a positive team environment and facilitate healthy organizational development. Researchers have not yet reached a consensus regarding the effects of proactive helping behavior on the relationship between the helper and the recipient, and most studies on this topic have focused exclusively on either positive or negative outcomes. We propose to adopt a dialectical perspective to comprehensively explore the multifaceted effects of proactive helping behavior on coworker relationships. On the basis of affective events theory and the affect theory of social exchange, we consider the interaction effect of proactive helping behaviors and recipients' humility levels on coworker relationships. By identifying recipients' emotional responses, specifically gratitude and ability-based Mianzi stress, as potential mechanisms in this context, we provide a new perspective on the impact of proactive helping behavior on recipients' coworker relationships.

We conducted two studies to test our hypotheses. In Study 1, we employed an experience sampling method to conduct a questionnaire survey among employees of several companies in China. The questionnaire survey process included an initial, one-time entry survey as well as daily surveys over a period of two weeks. The final sample included 507 usable observations that were collected from 53 employees. In Study 2, to enhance our ability to draw causal inferences, we conducted a scenario-based experiment. In this study, we recruited 216 full-time workers from companies in southern China. These respondents were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (proactive helping behavior, n = 107) and the control group (no proactive helping behavior, n = 109).

The above studies supported our hypotheses. The results showed that the relationship between proactive helping behavior and recipient gratitude was positive when recipients exhibit a high level of humility. Furthermore, for recipients with high levels of humility, proactive helping behavior promoted their coworker relationships by activating their gratitude. However, for recipients with low levels of humility, this indirect effect was not significant. We also found that the relationship between proactive helping behavior and ability-based Mianzi stress was positive when recipients exhibit low levels of humility. In addition, for recipients with low levels of humility, proactive helping behavior inhibited their coworker relationships by eliciting their ability-based Mianzi stress. However, for recipients with high levels of humility, this indirect effect was not significant.

The theoretical contributions of this study are as follows. First, this study highlights the 'double-edged sword' effect of proactive helping behavior on coworker relationships, thereby helping researchers understand the effects of proactive helping behavior in a more comprehensive and balanced manner. Second, from the perspective of the affective events theory, this study clarifies the differential emotional reactions of recipients with different humility levels when facing proactive helping behaviors. This enhances our understanding of how proactive helping behaviors influence the process of coworker relationships. Third, we identified the humility trait of recipients as a new “key” to disentangle the differentiated impacts of proactive helping behaviors.

Key words: proactive helping behavior, gratitude, ability-based Mianzi stress, humility, coworker relationship

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