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Fight Alone or Together? The Influence of Risk Perception on Helping Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Liping Yin

    (School of Cultural Industry and Tourism Management, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China)

  • Yen-Chun Jim Wu

    (College of Humanities and Arts, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei 106, Taiwan
    Department of Hospitality Management, Ming Chuan University, Taipei 111, Taiwan)

Abstract

Will there be a greater sense of solidarity and friendship during public crises? This study aims to determine whether risk perception influences employees’ willingness to assist in times of public crisis, taking COVID-19 as a specific research scenario and based on the theory of “tend and befriend”. This study hypothesized that risk perception will influence employees’ helping behavior via the in-group identity, with the degree of impact dependent on the COVID-19 pandemic’s severity. A questionnaire survey of 925 practitioners from various industries in the pandemic area revealed that: risk perception has a positive influence on employees’ helping behavior; in-group identity plays a certain mediating role in the process of risk perception that influences employees’ helping behavior; and the severity of a local pandemic negatively moderates the relationship between risk perception and helping behavior, but positively moderates the relationship between risk perception and in-group identity. Specifically, employees in high-risk areas are more likely to “align” (higher degree of recognition by the in-group) but demonstrate less helping behavior, compared with those in areas with moderate and low risk from the COVID-19. By contrast, employees in low-risk areas display more helping behavior but have less in-group identity, compared with those in areas with moderate and high risk from the COVID-19. This study expands the research on the relationship between risk perception and helping behavior, enriches the research results on risk management theory, and provides a practical reference for risk governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Liping Yin & Yen-Chun Jim Wu, 2022. "Fight Alone or Together? The Influence of Risk Perception on Helping Behavior," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:2:p:78-:d:748337
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peltokorpi, Vesa, 2020. "Host Country National Employees’ Prosocial Behavior toward Expatriates in Foreign Subsidiaries: A Common Ingroup Identity Model Perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
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