수혜자 특징과 행위자의 이미지 향상동기가 동료 간 도움행동에 미치는 영향: 자기지향적 관점을 중심으로 (The effects of self-enhancement motives and receivers’ characteristics on helping behaviors in coworker relationship: From self-oriented perspective)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국경영학회
· 수록지 정보 : 경영학연구 / 42권 / 1호 / 153 ~ 181페이지
· 저자명 : 김보영

초록

본 연구에서는 동기부여적 관점에서 동료들 간의 일대일 관계에서 발생하는 도움행동을 설명하기 위하여 다음과 같은 구체적인 연구과제들을 수행하였다.
첫째, 본 연구에서는 자기지향적 관점에서 도움행동의 동기로서 이미지 향상동기가 동료 간 도움행동에 미치는 영향을 검증하였다. 둘째, 동료와의 일대일 관계에서 행위자가 인지하는 동료의 특징은 이 동료에 대한 도움행동을 유발하는데, 자기지향적 동기부여적 관점을 바탕으로 본 연구에서는 추후보상 가능성과 관련된 수혜자 특징들로서 수혜자의 능력, 상사부하-교환관계, 그리고 인기를 제안하고, 이들이 도움행동에 영향을 미침을 검증하였다. 셋째, 선행연구에 의하면 개인의동기부여 성향은 서로 다른 정보탐색 및 처리과정을 거쳐 다른 종류의 정보에 집중하게 한다. 이러한 논의에 기반하여 본연구에서는 도움행동에 대하여 자기지향적 동기부여 성향인 이미지 향상동기와 추후보상 가능성과 관련된 수혜자 특징들과의 상호작용 효과를 제안하고 검증하였다.
연구결과 이미지 향상동기의 주효과와 수혜자 특징들 중 수혜자의 능력과 인기가 도움행동에 영향을 미치는 주효과가 검증되었다. 또한 이미지 향상동기의 강도에 따라 수혜자 특징과 도움행동과의 관계가 달라졌다. 특히, 이미지 향상동기와능력, 그리고 이미지 향상동기와 인기가 도움행동에 영향을 미치는 상호작용 패턴에 차이가 있었다.
본 연구의 결과는 자기지향적 관점에서 동료 간 도움행동의 동기부여 메커니즘을 제안하고 검증하였다는 점에서 이론적의의를 가지고 있다. 또한 조직구성원들의 성향에 따라 다양한 특징을 가진 동료들을 적절하게 배치함으로써 부서 내 구성원들 간의 도움행동을 활성화시킬 수 있는 지침을 제공하여 줄 수 있다는 점에서 실무적 함의를 지닌다.

영어초록

Researchers have carried out a substantial number of studies on helping behaviors in various disciplines. In the area of organizational behaviors, employees’ helping behaviors have been studies by many researchers. Most of these studies assume that employees will behave in an identical manner toward everyone else. However, in real organizations, employees behave in different manners depending on the partners. The present study investigates the motivational mechanism of employees’ helping behaviors in a dyadic relationship by considering their psychological motives for helping, characteristics of recipients as social exchange partners, and interaction effects between these two factors. To explain motivational mechanism of helping behaviors, the present study is based on the motivational approach. The motivational approach assumes that helping behaviors are induced by self-oriented goals or by other-oriented goals.
In particular, this study focuses on the self-oriented motivational mechanism. In the selforiented perspective, people help others with instrumental purposes such as enhancing their self-images or getting helping back from recipients in the future. The specific purposes of this study are like these. (1) I examined the effect of actor’s self-enhancement motives as a selforiented motivational orientation on helping behaviors toward a focal coworker. (2) Coworker’s characteristics which the employee perceives affect helping behaviors toward this coworker.
This phenomenon can be explained by self-oriented perspective. This study suggests coworker’s characteristics as determinants of helping behaviors. By the self-oriented perspective, recipient’characteristics which are related to expectation of future rewards- ability, quality of leader-member exchange (LMX), and popularity- might affect helping behaviors. I examined the effects of these three coworker’s characteristics (ability, LMX, &popularity) on help-giving behaviors toward this coworker. (3) previous studies suggest that each motivational orientation drives people to focus their information searching and processing on different kinds of attributes. Based on this argument, the present study proposes the interaction effects between self-oriented motives and recipient’s characteristics which are related to the expectation of future rewards on helping behaviors.
Data were collected using questionnaires distributed to employees and their coworkers who were working in large companies located in South Korea. A total of 148 employee-coworker dyads were used for statistical analysis. Help giver’ motives and recipient’ characteristics were rated by actor (help giver). Helping behaviors toward focal coworker were rated by both actor and recipient. These dependent variables rated by two sources are reported in the result.
Results of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications.
First, main effect of self-enhancement motives was significant. Second, main effects of recipients’ ability and popularity on helping behaviors were significant. Based on this finding,the current study suggests that receiver’s characteristics have to be considered to understand why employee helps particular coworker in the dyadic coworker relationship. Third, selfenhancement motives moderated the relationship between recipient’s characteristics and helping behaviors. Results of interaction patterns between self-enhancement motives and recipient’s characteristics are more complicated than what the hypothesis expected. Interaction patterns are different depending on recipient’s characteristics even if employee has identical selfenhancement motives. This finding means that people who have self-oriented motives might more complicatedly calculate benefit and loss from helping coworker who has specific characteristics.
Findings of the current study provide guidelines to enhance helping behaviors of employees with special motivational orientations by working with coworkers who possess suitable characteristics.
Future research needs to investigate other motivational factors of helping behaviors besides individuals’ motivational orientations and recipients’ characteristics that are considered in the present study.

참고자료

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