心理学报2025，Vol.57Issue(6)：1083-1097,15.DOI:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1083
好心没好报?主动帮助对同事关系的"双刃剑"影响
The double-edged sword effect of proactive helping behavior on coworker relationships
摘要
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.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Key words
proactive helping behavior/gratitude/ability-based Mianzi stress/humility/coworker relationship分类
心理学引用本文复制引用
陈良勇,曹仲怀,万文海,张玮婷..好心没好报?主动帮助对同事关系的"双刃剑"影响[J].心理学报,2025,57(6):1083-1097,15.基金项目
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). （FJB2023B058）
