IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2022i1p647-d1019883.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Teach Me Fishing or Give Me the Fish: Differential Effects of Receiving Autonomous and Dependent Help on Task Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Beijing Tan

    (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Ziyi Li

    (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Huan Cheng

    (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Zijing Wang

    (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

Abstract

Research on workplace helping behavior highlights the need for a more balanced perspective that acknowledges both the positive and negative consequences of receiving help. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the mechanisms through which we receive autonomous and dependent help differentially impact recipient task performance, as well as the boundary condition for such effects. Drawing on social information theory, we examined the mediating role of task- and self-focused processes, and the moderating role of perceived prosocial motivation. Through a two-wave and two-source field survey, we collected matched data from 350 employees and their direct supervisors. We examined our hypothesized model with path analysis using Mplus 7.4. Results indicated that receiving autonomous help improved task performance by leading recipients into task-focused processes, and perceived prosocial motivation further strengthened this positive indirect relationship. In contrast, receiving dependent help reduced task performance by eliciting recipients to engage in self-focused processes, and perceived prosocial motivation further augmented this negative indirect relationship. Overall, we spotlight the differential consequences of receiving autonomous and dependent help on recipients and encourage further inquiry about the role of social information processing in the helping literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Beijing Tan & Ziyi Li & Huan Cheng & Zijing Wang, 2022. "Teach Me Fishing or Give Me the Fish: Differential Effects of Receiving Autonomous and Dependent Help on Task Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:647-:d:1019883
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/647/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/647/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Z. Levin & Jorge Walter & J. Keith Murnighan, 2011. "Dormant Ties: The Value Of Reconnecting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 923-939, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M. Max Evans & Ilja Frissen & Anthony K. P. Wensley, 2018. "Organisational Information and Knowledge Sharing: Uncovering Mediating Effects of Perceived Trustworthiness Using the PROCESS Approach," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-29, March.
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/37ufknmfv39tppkbjb4dmidnqe is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Bart S. Vanneste & Phanish Puranam & Tobias Kretschmer, 2014. "Trust over time in exchange relationships: Meta-analysis and theory," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(12), pages 1891-1902, December.
    4. Llopis, Oscar & D'Este, Pablo & McKelvey, Maureen & Yegros, Alfredo, 2022. "Navigating multiple logics: Legitimacy and the quest for societal impact in science," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Smith, Claudia & Smith, J. Brock & Shaw, Eleanor, 2017. "Embracing digital networks: Entrepreneurs' social capital online," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 18-34.
    6. Lin, Daomi & Zheng, Wei & Lu, Jiangyong & Liu, Xiaohui & Wright, Mike, 2019. "Forgotten or not? Home country embeddedness and returnee entrepreneurship," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 1-13.
    7. Sunkee Lee, 2019. "Learning-by-Moving: Can Reconfiguring Spatial Proximity Between Organizational Members Promote Individual-level Exploration?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 467-488, May.
    8. Joo, Won-tak, 2023. "Educational gradient in social network changes at disease diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    9. Adam M. Kleinbaum, 2018. "Reorganization and Tie Decay Choices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(5), pages 2219-2237, May.
    10. Luke Rhee & Paul M. Leonardi, 2018. "Which pathway to good ideas? An attention‐based view of innovation in social networks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 1188-1215, April.
    11. Mary M. Maloney & Priti Pradhan Shah & Mary Zellmer-Bruhn & Stephen L. Jones, 2019. "The Lasting Benefits of Teams: Tie Vitality After Teams Disband," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 260-279, March.
    12. Keeran Kowlaser & Helena Barnard, 2016. "Tie Breadth, Tie Strength And The Location Of Ties: The Value Of Ties Inside An Emerging Mnc To Team Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-31, January.
    13. Ferreira, João J. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Guo, Ying & Rammal, Hussain G., 2022. "Knowledge worker mobility and knowledge management in MNEs: A bibliometric analysis and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 464-475.
    14. Giones, Ferran & Brem, Alexander & Pollack, Jeffrey M. & Michaelis, Timothy L. & Klyver, Kim & Brinckmann, Jan, 2020. "Revising entrepreneurial action in response to exogenous shocks: Considering the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    15. Carla Riverola & Ozgur Dedehayir & Francesc Miralles, 2022. "A Taxonomy of Social-Network-Utilization Strategies for Emerging High-Technology Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    16. Edward Bishop Smith & William Rand, 2018. "Simulating Macro-Level Effects from Micro-Level Observations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5405-5421, November.
    17. Elco Burg & Hans Berends & Erik M. Raaij, 2014. "Framing and Interorganizational Knowledge Transfer: A Process Study of Collaborative Innovation in the Aircraft Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 349-378, May.
    18. Olivier Godechot, 2016. "The Chance of Influence: A Natural Experiment on the Role of Social Capital in Faculty Recruitment," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/37ufknmfv39, Sciences Po.
    19. Delio I. Castaneda & Sergio Cuellar, 2021. "Knowledge Sharing in Business Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, March.
    20. D'Este, Pablo & Mc Kelvey, Maureen & Yegros-Yegros, Alfredo, 2018. "Innovation from science: the role of network content and legitimacy ties," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201802, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), revised 28 Oct 2019.
    21. Boussard, Valérie & Godechot, Olivier & Woloszko, Nicolas, 2016. "How to make a deal: The role of rankings and personal ties in creating trust in the M&A market," MaxPo Discussion Paper Series 16/3, Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:647-:d:1019883. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.