Exchange Relationships and Helping Behavior: An Empirical Analysis of Data from CGSS2015

Abstract

Purpose

Helping others is a classic virtue and a positive behavior advocated by organizations and society at large in accordance with social norms. Based on social information processing theory, this study examines the mechanisms by which social exchange relationships influence individual helping behavior.

Patients and methods

Chinese General Social Survey data from 2015 (CGSS 2015) is applied, and regression analysis and bootstrapping methods are adopted.

Results

The findings indicate that leader-member exchange and team-member exchange are positively and significantly related to employees’ helping behavior. Affective commitment and job satisfaction play mediating roles between both leader-member exchange and team-member exchange and helping behavior.

Conclusion

Leader-member exchange and team-member exchange have different effects on helping behavior. Compared with team-member exchange, the effect of leader-member exchange on helping behavior is stronger via affective commitment and job satisfaction. These results serve as a starting point for boosting the proactive behaviors of employees, thereby establishing a harmonious organizational climate.

Keywords:

• helping behavior
• leader-member exchange
• team-member exchange
• affective commitment
• job satisfaction

Ethics Approval

The survey program of 2015 Chinese General Survey (CGSS 2015) was organized by Renmin University of China. The initial survey was in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of Renmin University of China. Informed consent was assigned and obtained from all individual participants. All procedures conducted in this study were approved by the Ethics Commitment of Kunming University of Science and Technology and were in line with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71701083 and 71761021), the Applied Basic Project of Yunnan Province (Grant No. 2019FB084), Guangxi Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (Grant No. 20FJL001), Research Project of the Construction and Operation Mechanism of the National Sichuan-Tibet Railway Technology Innovation Centre (Grant No. 2020JDR0396), and Extracurricular Academic and Scientific Innovation Fund Projects for Students at Kunming University of Science and Technology in 2022 (Grant No. 2022SK083).