社会拥挤对助人行为意愿的影响

Effect of Social Crowding on Intention of Helping Behavior

随着人口的持续性增长和城镇化的快速发展,社会拥挤成为消费者日常生活中的一部分。在社会拥挤情景中频繁出现求助呼吁和助人行为。助人行为,即给需要者伸出援手,被视为一种普适的价值观。然而,关于社会拥挤是增加助人行为意愿、还是减少助人行为意愿的讨论并不多见,而对该现象背后的潜在心理机制的挖掘也未引起重视。通过梳理社会拥挤和助人行为等相关研究,基于自我-他人融合理论,构建社会拥挤对助人行为意愿影响的研究模型,利用5个实验和3个预实验,招募1 091名被试进行实证研究,提出社会拥挤能够正向影响消费者的助人行为意愿,被试在社会拥挤环境中参与和转发轻松筹平台上的救助、做义工、响应校庆捐赠和志愿者活动的意愿均更高。所有实验均采用情景模拟法和组间实验设计,运用Spss软件进行方差分析和Bootstrap中介效应分析,重点探索助人行为意愿在社会拥挤环境和非社会拥挤环境中的差异,并验证社会联结感和同理心在主效应中的链式双中介作用。实验1和实验2研究结果表明,身处社会拥挤环境中的被试有更高的助人行为意愿,实验3~实验5揭示该效应的中介机制为:在社会拥挤的环境中,由于人与人之间更近的物理距离,被试体验到了更大的自我与他人的融合,从而产生更强的社会联结感,社会联结感增加同理心并进而增加助人行为意愿。同时,社会拥挤环境中的组成人员对该效应起调节作用,由内团体(如校友)组成的社会拥挤环境比由外团体(如竞争学校的同学)组成的社会拥挤环境更能增加助人行为意愿。研究结果揭示了社会拥挤到底是增加还是减少助人行为意愿问题,为理解社会拥挤环境中的助人行为提供了较为新颖且有说服力的视角;填补了已有研究鲜少关注和深入分析社会拥挤积极面的研究空白,并开拓了社会拥挤增加社会联结感的积极研究视角,因此从心理层面解释社会拥挤对助人行为的积极影响;揭示了不能忽视消费者身处社会拥挤时感知到更大的自我与他人的重叠这一积极面,并引起社会联结感增加,增强同理心和助人行为意愿。研究结果对非营利性组织选择合适的场合和时间开展慈善捐赠活动具有指导意义。

With the sustained growth of population and the rapid development of urbanization,consumers are experiencing social crowding in this modern urban life.Accompany by social crowding upsurging,a mounting body of helping appeals occur in social crowding.Helping impulse-do a favor for the others in need-is taken as a universal human value.However,there is scant exploration on whether social crowding perception increases intention of helping behavior or not.Yet,identifying the psychological and social process underlying mechanism of the influence of social crowding on the intention of helping behavior is overlooked.The current study firstly reviews relevant literature on social crowding and the intention of helping behavior.Based on self-other overlap theory,we established the conceptual model of the effect of social crowding on the intention of helping behavior.Based on 7 studies(5 studies and 3 pilot studies;991 participants),we supposes social crowding increases the intention of helping others,such as a higher willingness to donate on the platform of“QFund”,more active in doing voluntary work as well as participating university anniversary donation and voluntary actions,and more active in sharing related information as moment in we-chat app.To test the hypotheses,the study conducted scenario simulation experiments which between-group design,and used ANOVA and Bootstrap mediator analysis in Spss to test hypotheses.Based on 5 studies(637 participants),the researchers analyzed the influence of social crowding on the intention of helping behavior.The results demonstrate that individuals in social crowding environments have a higher intention to help others(study 1&study 2).The underlying mechanism is that in social crowding,due to a closer distance among each other,individuals tend to experience a self-other overlap and have a stronger social connection as well as empathy,thus they are more willing to offer a helping hand(studies 3,4,5).What′s more,compared to out-group members(peers from competing schools),the perception of social crowding formed by in-group members(alumni)leads to a much stronger inclination of helping behavior(study4).Results of the current study clarify whether social crowding environment increases or decreases the intention of helping others.The study provides a noved and convincing perspective of understanding the help-seeking behaviors in social crowding.Hardly any researchers examined the bright side of social crowding on the intention of helping behavior.The results have also advanced knowledge of the mediating mechanism underlying the relationship between social crowding perception and empathy,which social connection plays a vital role in the influence of social crowding on helping behavior in social crowding.Together,these findings suggest that it is would be beneficial for non-profit organizations to choose the right time to call for charitable actions.