Prosocial Motivation Research Articles

“I want to help but customers mistreat me”: the dual moderating role of prosocial motivation on the impact of customer mistreatment

Purpose Based on the stressor-detachment theory, this study aims to investigate the effect of daily customer mistreatment on proactive service performance and ego depletion, mediated by psychological detachment inhibition during the evening. Additionally, this study endeavors to investigate the dual moderating role of prosocial motivation. Design/methodology/approach A time-lagged, diary daily survey involving 74 participants over 8 consecutive workdays was conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings The findings indicate that the psychological detachment inhibition during the evening of Day t mediates the impact of Day t’s customer mistreatment on Day t + 1’s proactive service performance and ego depletion. Furthermore, although prosocial motivation was found to intensify the impact of customer mistreatment on psychological detachment inhibition, it alleviated the negative association between psychological detachment inhibition and proactive service performance. Research limitations/implications When employees experience customer mistreatment, hospitality managers should not only provide emotional reassurance and resolve any related issues promptly but also encourage employees to engage in activities that distract them and help them to relax and recharge, especially for those who exhibit high prosocial motivation. Moreover, hiring employees with high prosocial motivation is recommended for hospitality organizations to enable them to maintain high service performance. Originality/value This study focuses on psychological detachment inhibition during the evening linking within-person design and daily spill-over impact, enriching the mechanisms through which the repercussions of daily customer mistreatment extend beyond the immediate workday and affect individuals’ outcomes. This study also expands upon the existing literature by clarifying the dual aspects – both detrimental and beneficial – of prosocial motivation.

Prosocial Behavior of College Students: A Self-determination Perspective

Students’ prosocial behavior refers to self-determination motivation with the aim of helping others and a caring attitude. The purpose of this research study is to explore the role of college students’ prosocial behavior in terms of self-determination. The age of college students is in the early adulthood category. The research approach in this study is to use a qualitative approach with literature study techniques. The result of this study is that the role of students’ prosocial behavior in terms of self-determination is the existence of students’ autonomous interest and motivation to behave prosocially in real terms. Autonomous prosocial motivation is manifested as the regulation of prosocial behavior determined by the individual himself, the interest and pleasure to help others without coercion from others. However, individuals who are motivated to be prosocial because they want to avoid guilt and shame may cause individuals to experience more negative emotions. This study implies that the role of autonomous motivation as part of self-determination theory becomes strong evidence in individuals achieving desired goals, and specifically also evidence of individuals performing highly prosocial behavior. Keywords: college students, prosocial behavior, self-determination

Proactivity or withdrawal? The role of attributions in employee psychological and behavioral responses to leader high performance expectations

In today’s fiercely competitive market landscape, leader high performance expectations (LHPEs) are increasingly integrated into performance management practices in the workplace. However, this adoption may yield a performance management paradox: while some argue that high performance expectations prompt proactive employee engagement, others assert that such expectations induce withdrawal. Our study aims to unveil this paradox and its underlying mechanisms. Drawing upon insights from the HR attributions literature and the job demands-resources model, we propose that the impact of LHPE is contingent upon employees’ attributions for this practice. Specifically, employees attributing LHPE to prosocial motives experience a sense of thriving at work, leading to increased engagement in proactive behavior (the motivational pathway). Conversely, those attributing LHPE to self-interest motives experience distress at work and tend to withdraw (the strain pathway). Our hypotheses are supported by the results of a three-wave survey involving 321 employees. Overall, our findings underscore the crucial role of employee attributions in implementing LHPE as a performance management strategy, offering insights into its optimal utilization.

Peranan Motivasi Prososial dalam Memediasi Pengaruh Motivasi Teori Penentuan Nasib Sendiri terhadap Berbagi Pengetahuan

This study uses a quantitative method with a descriptive and explanatory survey approach. The study was conducted at the Kampar Regency Land Office, with the aim of testing the role of prosocial motivation in mediating the influence of motivation based on self-determination theory on knowledge sharing. The population of this study consisted of all employees of the Kampar Regency Land Office, with a total of 144 people. Based on this population size, according to the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table, the sample size for this study was 103 people. The sampling method used in this study was Systematic Random Sampling. All respondents will be used to obtain primary data related to the variables, which will be collected through a questionnaire with a Likert scale of 1-5 points. All data obtained were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the Smart PLS 3.0 analysis tool. The results of the study indicate that self-determination motivation does not have a significant effect on knowledge sharing, self-determination motivation has a significant positive effect on prosocial motivation, prosocial motivation has a significant positive effect on knowledge sharing, and prosocial motivation mediates a significant positive effect of self-determination motivation on knowledge sharing.

Cuteness Catalyst: Fostering Pro-Social Motivation and Enhancing Donating Behaviors

This study investigated the impact of product characteristics, specifically cuteness, on consumer pro-social motivation and donating behaviours. I predict that cute product would elicit consumers pro-social motivations and thus increase their willingness to donate. To test these hypotheses, I conducted an experiment, in which participants were presents with a scenario involving the sale of cakes for fundraising. Participants were randomly presented with either a cute cake or an ordinary cake and were asked to indicate their pro-social motivation and their willingness to buy (donate). Results indicate the cute products can evoke pro-social motivation, thereby enhancing donating behaviour. This research provides valuable insights into the dynamics of consumer donating behaviour, specifically elucidating the role of product characteristics, such as cuteness, in fostering pro-social responses.

Reacting to criticism: What motivates top leaders to respond substantively to negative social performance feedback?

The responses of organizations in situations of negative feedback from stakeholders are attracting increasing scholarly and societal attention. The literature has so far largely focused on situational factors that direct such responses, while calling for a more acute examination of individual factors. Anchored in Stakeholder Theory and Trait Activation Theory, this study examines how and to what extent prosocial motivation (a normative-oriented trait) and fear of failure (an instrumental-oriented trait) determine organizational leaders’ substantive responses to negative social performance feedback. We test our predictions on two waves of original survey data, including a conjoint experiment, on a sample of leaders of young organizations. Our findings contribute to literature and practice related to organizational responses to social performance feedback.

Emotion regulation motives in adolescence shape regulatory strategy use.

Emotion regulation (ER) motives (i.e., the reasons individuals regulate their emotions) are key factors influencing the development of adolescents' ER abilities. However, age- and gender-related trends in adolescents' ER motives, as well as their impact on the use of ER strategies, remain unclear. We recruited 5629 participants from two schools in Southwest China (M = 15.18, SD = 1.73; 45.11% male) to complete the Emotion Regulation Goals Scale and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Linear and polynomial regression analyses were conducted to examine age- and gender-related differences in ER motive patterns. We then tested whether different patterns of ER motives were also associated with participants' habitual use of two common ER strategies. This study revealed nonlinear and diverse age-related differences in adolescents' contra-hedonic and pro-social motives, with notable fluctuations in contra-hedonic motives. Boys exhibited higher levels of contra-hedonic motives, while girls showed higher levels of performance motives. Moreover, ER motives were significantly and broadly associated with individuals' habitual use of reappraisal and suppression. More specifically, pro-hedonic motives were associated with greater use of reappraisal, while contra-hedonic motives were linked to higher levels of suppression. Furthermore, instrumental motives (i.e., performance, pro-social, and impression management) were positively related to both reappraisal and suppression. These findings enhance our understanding of how adolescents' ER motives vary by age and gender, as well as the crucial role different ER motives play in shaping patterns of ER strategy use.

Is common behavior considered moral? The role of perceived others' motives in moral norm inferences and motivation about environmental behavior

The present research examines how inferences about moral norms from descriptive norms change by perceptions of others' motives in the context of environmental behavior. When individuals think that many others engage in an environmental behavior (e.g., water and energy conservation) for prosocial (vs. proself) motives, they infer moralization about the behavior in a given context. They infer stronger injunctive norms about the behavior and expect others to experience moral outrage at violation of the moral standard (e.g., wasting water and energy). The moral norm perceptions predict people's motivation to engage in environmental behavior themselves. We further show that expected guilt and shame if not engaging in normative behavior explain the effects of prosocial-motivated (vs. proself-motivated) norms. Together, perceived motives behind descriptive norms change people's inferences about moral implications of normative behavior and their motivation to engage in normative behavior.

Why does family motivation occur and matter? Evidence from hotel and cruise ship employees

Supporting one’s family can be a powerful motivator for employees to work hard. However, very few research has been done and has explored the reasons why family motivation matters and how it occurs. Drawing on prosocial motivation theory and action identification theory, we propose that family motivation positively influences employee resilience, particularly when intrinsic motivation and challenge stressors are low. Additionally, perceived organizational support for families enhances family motivation, which in turn bolsters employee resilience. We have collected data from hotel and cruise ship employees to test these hypotheses. Our findings suggest that family motivation significantly strengthens employee resilience, especially in the absence of intrinsic motivation and challenge stressors. Furthermore, perceived organizational family support plays a crucial role in fostering family motivation, which mediates its positive impact on employee resilience. Based on these insights, we recommend that hotel and cruise ship companies cultivate resilient employees by reinforcing family motivation and implementing family-friendly practices.

Can Gratitude Help to Craft Your Career? The Role of Prosocial Motivation and Intrinsic Motivation.

Career crafting offers a new approach for individuals to cope with changing career situations. However, few studies have focused on personality-related antecedents that stably predict career proactivity. Additionally, as individuals' careers are embedded in various social relationships, career crafting involves significant social interaction. Our study focuses on gratitude, which is related to social interaction, suggesting that gratitude fosters an appreciation for interpersonal relationships, providing a beneficial impetus for career crafting. A quantitative approach was adopted with a three-wave survey with 825 responses, and SPSS 26 and Mplus 8.3 were used as the analytical software for confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and path analysis. We conducted an empirical examination employing a moderated mediation model grounded in the framework of proactive motivation. The results revealed a positive correlation between gratitude and career crafting, with prosocial motivation mediating this relationship. Simultaneously, intrinsic motivation moderated the relationship between prosocial motivation and career crafting. Our study emphasizes gratitude's role in career crafting and explores how it, along with prosocial motivations, drives proactive behaviors, responding to calls for relational work redesign and examining interactions between intrinsic and prosocial motivations in careers. It has important practical implications for individuals, organizations, and career counselors.

The Power of Storytelling in Influencing Social Crowdfunding Intention: A Case of a Non-Profit Organization in Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study examines the effectiveness of storytelling in enhancing social crowdfunding donations for nonprofit organizations. Using a sample of 708 respondents, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed to analyze the relationships between storytelling, prosocial motivations, trust in a social crowdfunding platform, and social crowdfunding donation intentions. The findings demonstrate that storytelling positively influences pleasure-based (desire to help) and pressure-based (sense of obligation) prosocial motivations, ultimately driving intentions to donate to social crowdfunding. Interestingly, pressure-based motivation exerts a stronger effect on the intention to donate. Additionally, this study highlights the crucial mediating role of trust in the social crowdfunding platform, suggesting the importance of the platform’s credibility in connecting pleasure and pressure-based prosocial motivation on the intention to donate to social crowdfunding. This is the first study to investigate social crowdfunding through the lens of consumer storytelling theory and pleasure and pressure-based prosocial motivation theory.

Unveiling the drivers of sustainable housing choices among millennials in emerging markets

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the complex interplay between technology, personal norms and emotional factors in shaping the sustainable housing choices of millennials in emerging economies. It integrates the model of goal-directed behavior, technology acceptance model and norm activation model, incorporating both self-interest and prosocial motivations. Key adaptations involve replacing perceived behavioral control with financial self-efficacy and substituting hedonic motivation for anticipated positive emotions. Moreover, it introduces location as a practical anchor. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research design was used in this study. Data were gathered from a sample of 610 millennial residential real estate investors across Indian smart cities. A multistage stratified sampling technique was used to ensure a representative sample. For data analysis, partial least squares structural equation modeling was used. The analysis focused on hypothesis testing to examine the relationships between the constructs of interest. Bootstrap t-values and effect sizes were used to assess the significance and magnitude of these relationships, respectively. Findings One of the key findings of this study was the establishment of significant positive relationships between awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility and personal norms with behavioral intentions. This underscored the importance of personal ethical considerations in shaping intentions. Perceived usefulness and ease of use were found to significantly influence attitudes positively, highlighting the relevance of these factors in forming favorable attitudes toward behaviors. Attitude, subjective norms, financial self-efficacy and location played significant positive roles. However, negative anticipated emotions decreased desire. This illustrated the complex role emotions play in motivational processes. The study also revealed that subjective norms did not significantly contribute to shaping personal norms. This indicated a potential decoupling of societal expectations from personal ethical obligations in the decision-making process. Practical implications This study offers actionable insights for both policymakers and real estate developers. For policymakers, the findings highlight the need to craft initiatives that go beyond mere awareness, instead fostering a deep sense of personal responsibility and environmental stewardship among potential homebuyers. For real estate developers, the emphasis on financial self-efficacy and location suggests a strategy shift toward designing sustainable homes that not only meet environmental standards but also align with buyers’ financial confidence and geographic preferences. Together, these strategies can drive a more widespread adoption of sustainable housing, making sustainability a tangible and appealing choice for millennials. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this empirical research study was one of the first studies that contributed to the literature by integrating the model of goal-directed behavior, technology acceptance model and norm activation model. This study thus offered a nuanced understanding of the interplay between normative influences, usability perceptions, ethical considerations and emotions in the context of behavioral intentions.

The impact of social exclusion on malevolent creativity: The mediating role of prosocial motivation.

The impact of social exclusion on malevolent creativity: The mediating role of prosocial motivation.

The Interplay Between Social Entrepreneurial Knowledge, Prosocial Motivation, Perceived Access to Finance and Social Entrepreneurial Intention

Building on insights from human capital and self-determination theories, this study examines the chain mediating effect of prosocial motivation and perceived access to finance in the linkage between social entrepreneurial knowledge and social entrepreneurial intention. Using survey data from 330 university students from Nigeria, the findings show that social entrepreneurial knowledge is positively linked with social entrepreneurial intention, and that prosocial motivation mediates this relationship. Perceived access to finance also positively intervened in the link between social entrepreneurial knowledge and social entrepreneurial intention. Finally, prosocial motivation and perceived access to finance had a significant serial mediating effect on the influence of social entrepreneurial knowledge on social entrepreneurial intention of university students. The study concludes with academic and practical implications for educators and policymakers in under-researched Sub-Saharan African contexts like Nigeria.

Ternary Moral Empathy Model from the Perspective of Intersubjective Phenomenology.

The phenomenon of empathy is an intersubjective process of feeling and a particular form of intentionality. Moral empathy refers to a type of empathy that can trigger moral action, with the embodied intersubjectivity laying the foundation for its emergence. This paper attempts to propose a comprehensive theoretical model of moral empathy from the perspective of intersubjective phenomenology, which includes the following. (1) The moral dimension of perceptual empathy: at the subpersonal, unconscious, and perceptual-motor level, embodied empathic practices are essential for the formation of moral consciousness and the emergence of moral empathy. (2) The moral dimension of situational empathy: following the development of shared attention mechanisms, children can direct towards the intentional objects of others through embodied situational cues to perceive the psychological state of others and generate the moral empathy of "ought", leading to dyadic morality that promotes cooperative behavior. (3) The moral dimension of narrative empathy: the narrative practices of moral empathy refer to the processes by which children could perceive and understand the moral situation of characters within an embodied narrative structure, subsequently generate prosocial motives such as empathic concern, and then accept the "objective" moral norms of the group consciousness embedded in the narrative.

Reactive guardianship: Who intervenes? How? And why?

AbstractGuardianship is a core tenet of routine activity theory and collective efficacy. At its outset, routine activity research assumed that the mere presence of a guardian was sufficient to disrupt many forms of crime. More recent research, however, has taken as a starting point that would‐be‐guardians must take on an active role for a reduction in crime to occur. Integrating research on bystander intervention and guardianship‐in‐action, the current study elaborates the individual‐level motivations and decision processes of guardianship to answer the following questions: Who serves as a reactive guardian? How do they do so? And why? We tasked young adults (N = 1,032) included in the recent waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z‐proso) to assess a 70‐second video depicting a sexual harassment event. We examined participants’ willingness to engage in a range of intervention options as a function of their prosocial attitudes, safety considerations, socioemotional motivations, and moral considerations. Results show a complex decision process leading to whether and how a would‐be guardian decides to intervene to disrupt sexual harassment, such that prosocial motivations and emotional reactions are weighed against perceptions of danger when deciding on a specific course of action.

What's Love Got To Do With It? An Examination of Perceived Prosocial Motivations for the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Cyber Aggression

Recent technological advancements have facilitated cyber relationships and in turn, cyber dating abuse has become more prevalent than ever. The present study examined cyber aggression perpetration in the form of excessive monitoring as a function of perceived prosocial motives. It was hypothesized that perpetrators reporting prosocial motivations would be significantly related to high levels of perpetration. Additionally, relationship investment was predicted to be a moderator of the relationship between perceived prosocial motives and perpetration. The third hypothesis was that gender would moderate the relationship, such that females would exhibit a stronger relationship than males. To examine these hypotheses, undergraduate university students (N = 513) completed questionnaires reporting the frequency and type of cyber dating abuse they perpetrated, the underlying motivations perpetrators reported lead to perpetration, and relationship investment. This research has relevant implications for the development of intervention and prevention programs aimed at reducing the occurrence of online dating violence.

The motive cocktail in altruistic behaviors

Prosocial motives such as social equality and efficiency are key to altruistic behaviors. However, predicting the range of altruistic behaviors in varying contexts and individuals proves challenging if we limit ourselves to one or two motives. Here we demonstrate the numerous, interdependent motives in altruistic behaviors and the possibility to disentangle them through behavioral experimental data and computational modeling. In one laboratory experiment (N = 157) and one preregistered online replication (N = 1,258), across 100 different situations, we found that both third-party punishment and third-party helping behaviors (that is, an unaffected individual punishes the transgressor or helps the victim) aligned best with a model of seven socioeconomic motives, referred to as a motive cocktail. For instance, the inequality discounting motives imply that individuals, when confronted with costly interventions, behave as if the inequality between others barely exists. The motive cocktail model also provides a unified explanation for the differences in intervention willingness between second parties (victims) and third parties, and between punishment and helping.

When and why host country nationals give advice to expatriates: A relational work context perspective

This study advances our understanding of how a relational work context can promote host country nationals’ (HCNs’) advice-giving behavior. Drawing from social interdependence theory and relational signalling theory, we develop a multilevel model to demonstrate how task interdependence and expatriate advice seeking can jointly influence HCNs’ advice giving. Using data from 795 HCNs nested within 159 expatriates, we find that at the HCN level (Level 1), task interdependence facilitates HCNs’ prosocial motivation and advice-giving behavior. Also, at the expatriate level (Level 2), task interdependence facilitates expatriates’ advice-seeking behavior, which further has a cross-level interaction effect with HCNs’ task interdependence in predicting HCNs’ prosocial motivation and ultimate advice-seeking behavior. We discuss the implications for theory and practice.

Vaccinating for My Family or for My Community? The Effect of Message Framing on Parental Intention to Vaccinate during the COVID Pandemic.

Social media is one of the major platforms for disseminating essential health messages. The present study examined the effect of message framing (self-interest motive, prosocial motive) on an online platform for parental intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. It also examined how the effect may vary across participants' levels of parental identity centrality/salience and community orientation before the vaccine was officially available. Six hundred and sixty-three Hong Kong Chinese parents were recruited, and a total of 278 valid responses were retained in the analyses. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: self-interest motive, prosocial motive, and control. Participants in the self-interest motive condition and the prosocial motive condition read a condition-specific message about the COVID-19 vaccine. Then, they reported their levels of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19, including parent-vaccination, child-vaccination, and medical information-seeking. A significant group effect on child-vaccination was found. Participants in the self-interest motive condition reported a higher intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 compared with the other two conditions. Results of moderation analyses indicated that communal orientation moderated the effect of a self-interest-motive-emphasized message on parental intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. The effect of a self-interest-motive-emphasized message appeared to be stronger on parent-vaccination, child-vaccination, and medical information-seeking among parents who reported lower levels of communal orientation. These findings provided some initial evidence of the effectiveness of message-framing in promoting parents' intention to vaccinate their children on online platforms.