Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Conflict Between Partnership and Fairness in the Decision of Whom to Help

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many activities in organizations benefit from informal networks, in which individuals help each other without an obligation to do so. Helping can take time and effort and expert helpers may find themselves in high demand not being able to help every requester. In this research, we examine the impact of prior help in the decision to help the same person again versus help someone new. We propose that feelings of partnership created by an initial act of help encourage helpers to stick to the same person, but a sense of fairness pushes helpers toward those who have not received help before. Thus, oftentimes people prefer to help someone with whom they have a weaker bond. Furthermore, we argue that repeated helping strengthens the feeling of partnership and increases preference for helping the same person over another. In contrast, knowing that the helped party has similar relationships with other helpers dampen this feeling and reduces future help. Helpers consider not only the help they have given, but more broadly the help that was received by all the parties involved. We also distinguish two aspects of fairness: even/equal distribution of help and helping who is in greater need.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ache, F., Rader, C., & Hütter, M. (2020). Advisors want their advice to be used—But not too much: An interpersonal perspective on advice taking. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 89, 103979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 267–299). Cambridge: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agneessens, F., & Wittek, R. (2012). Where do intra-organizational advice relations come from? The role of informal status and social capital in social exchange. Social Networks, 34(3), 333–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez, K., & Van Leeuwen, E. (2011). To teach or to tell? Consequences of receiving help from experts and peers. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(3), 397–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blunden, H., & Gino, F. (2018). How the other half thinks. In E. L. MacGeorge & L. M. Van Swol (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of advice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blunden, H., Logg, J. M., Brooks, A. W., John, L. K., & Gino, F. (2019). Seeker beware: The interpersonal costs of ignoring advice. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 150, 83–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohns, V. K., & Flynn, F. J. (2010). “Why didn’t you just ask?” Underestimating the discomfort of help-seeking. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 402–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohns, V. K., & Flynn, F. J. (2013). Underestimating our influence over others at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 33, 97–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohns, V. K., Newark, D. A., & Xu, A. Z. (2016). For a dollar, would you…? How (we think) money affects compliance with our requests. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 134, 45–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohns, V. K., Roghanizad, M. M., & Xu, A. Z. (2014). Underestimating our influence over others’ unethical behavior and decisions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(3), 348–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonaccio, S., & Dalal, R. S. (2006). Advice taking and decision-making: An integrative literature review. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 101, 127–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brockner, J., Tyler, T. R., & Cooper-Schneider, R. (1992). The influence of prior commitment to an institution on reactions to perceived unfairness: The higher they are, the harder they fall. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 241–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, A. W., Gino, F., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2015). Smart people ask for (My) advice: Seeking advice boosts perceptions of competence. Management Science, 61(6), 1421–1435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, R. (1998). Determinants of help seeking: Relations between perceived reasons for classroom help-avoidance and help-seeking behaviors in an experimental context. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(4), 630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chentsova-Dutton, Y. E., & Vaughn, A. (2012). Let me tell you what to do: Cultural differences in advice-giving. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(5), 687–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craft, J. L. (2013). A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 2004–2011. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(2), 221–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cropanzano, R., Bowen, D. E., & Gilliland, S. W. (2007). The management of organizational justice. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(4), 34–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dabos, G. E., & Rousseau, D. M. (2013). Psychological contracts and informal networks in organizations: The effects of social status and local ties. Human Resource Management, 52(4), 485–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deelstra, J. T., Peeters, M. C. W., Schaufeli, W. B., Stroebe, W., Zijlstra, F. R. H., & van Doornen, L. P. (2003). Receiving instrumental support at work: When help is not welcome. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), 324–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, A. R., Fuller, R. M., & Valacich, J. S. (2008). Media, tasks, and communication processes: A theory of media synchronicity. MIS Quarterly, 32, 575–600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DePaulo, B. M., & Fisher, J. D. (1980). The costs of asking for help. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 1(1), 23–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falk, A., Fehr, E., & Fischbacher, U. (2008). Testing theories of fairness—Intentions matter. Games and Economic Behavior, 62(1), 287–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fehr, E., & Gächter, S. (2000). Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), 159–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R., & Glerum, D. R. (2015). Justice and deonance:“You ought.” Oxford handbook of justice in the workplace (pp. 331–350). Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(2), 195–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K. J., Ellsworth, P., Maslach, C., & Seipel, M. (1975). Obligation, donor resources, and reactions to aid in three cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31(3), 390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., Brooks, A. W., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2012). Anxiety, advice, and the ability to discern: Feeling anxious motivates individuals to seek and use advice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 497–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godshalk, V. M., & Sosik, J. J. (2003). Aiming for career success: The role of learning goal orientation in mentoring relationships. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63(3), 417–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J., & Bies, R. J. (1992). Establishing the role of empirical studies of organizational justice in philosophical inquiries into business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5–6), 433–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Nadler, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2011). Reactions to receiving assumptive help: The moderating effects of group membership and perceived need for help 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(12), 2793–2815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, N., & Fischer, I. (1997). Taking advice: Accepting help, improving judgment, and sharing responsibility. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70(2), 117–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2018). Partial, conditional, and moderated moderated mediation: Quantification, inference, and interpretation. Communication Monographs, 85(1), 4–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, H., Zhu, W., & Zheng, X. (2014). Procedural justice and employee engagement: Roles of organizational identification and moral identity centrality. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(4), 681–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopfensitz, A., & Reuben, E. (2009). The importance of emotions for the effectiveness of social punishment. The Economic Journal, 119(540), 1534–1559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huff, C., & Tingley, D. (2015). “Who are these people?” Evaluating the demographic characteristics and political preferences of MTurk survey respondents. Research & Politics, 2(3), 2053168015604648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, D. M., & Michael, C. (1983). Mentorship: A career training and development tool. Academy of Management Review, 8(3), 475–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (1986). Fairness and the assumptions of economics. The Journal of Business, 59(4), S285–S300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kausel, E. E., Culbertson, S. S., Leiva, P. I., Slaughter, J. E., & Jackson, A. T. (2015). Too arrogant for their own good? Why and when narcissists dismiss advice. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 131, 33–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J., & Loewenstein, J. (2020). Analogical encoding fosters ethical decision making because improved knowledge of ethical principles increases moral awareness. Journal of Business Ethics, 172, 307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D. Y., & Son, S. (2018). Advice in mentoring relationships in organizations. In E. L. MacGeorge & L. M. Van Swol (Eds.), The oxford handbook of advice. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong, D. T., & Belkin, L. Y. (2019). Being grateful and biased: Felt gratitude as a cause of escalation bias in relational dilemmas. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 83, 88–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liljenquist. (2010). Resolving the impression management dilemma: The strategic benefits of soliciting others for advice (Doctoral dissertation). Nothwestern University. Retrieved September 12, 2017

  • Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Long, C. P. (2016). Mapping the main roads to fairness: Examining the managerial context of fairness promotion. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(4), 757–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molnar, A. (2019). SMARTRIQS: A simple method allowing real-time respondent interaction in qualtrics surveys. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 22, 161–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newark, D. A., Bohns, V. K., & Flynn, F. J. (2017). A helping hand is hard at work: Help-seekers’ underestimation of helpers’ effort. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 139, 18–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noe, R. A., Greenberger, D. B., & Wang, S. (2002). Mentoring: What we know and where we might go. In: Research in personnel and human resources management. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmeira, M. (2020). Advice in the presence of external cues: The impact of conflicting judgments on perceptions of expertise. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 156, 82–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmeira, M., Spassova, G., & Keh, H. T. (2015). Other-serving bias in advice-taking: When advisors receive more credit than blame. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 30(September), 13–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne, S. C., & Huffman, A. H. (2005). A longitudinal examination of the influence of mentoring on organizational commitment and turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 48(1), 158–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pruitt, D. G. (1968). Reciprocity and credit building in a laboratory dyad. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(2p1), 143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabin, M. (1993). Incorporating fairness into game theory and economics. The American Economic Review, 83(5), 1281–1302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rader, C. A. (2015). Misjudging our Influence on Others: Blind Spots in Perceptions of Peer Use of Advice (Doctoral dissertation). Duke University.

  • Ruedy, N. E., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2010). In the moment: The effect of mindfulness on ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(1), 73–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusbult, C. E., Martz, J. M., & Agnew, C. R. (1998). The investment model scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5(4), 357–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaerer, M., Tost, L. P., Huang, L., Gino, F., & Larrick, R. (2018). Advice giving: A subtle pathway to power. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(5), 746–761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, Y., Sung, S. Y., Choi, J. N., & Kim, M. S. (2015). Top management ethical leadership and firm performance: Mediating role of ethical and procedural justice climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 43–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spassova, G., Palmeira, M., & Andrade, E. (2018). A ratings pattern heuristic in judgments of expertise: When being right looks wrong. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 147, 26–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C., Bontempo, R., Villareal, M. J., Asai, M., & Lucca, N. (1988). Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self–ingroup relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(2), 323–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tricomi, E., Rangel, A., Camerer, C. F., & O’Doherty, J. P. (2010). Neural evidence for inequality-averse social preferences. Nature, 463(7284), 1089–1091.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wieselquist, J., Rusbult, C. E., Foster, C. A., & Agnew, C. R. (1999). Commitment, pro-relationship behavior, and trust in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(5), 942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Associate Editor Joan Finegan and two anonymous reviewers for their many great suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MUMA College of Business at University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL, USA

    Mauricio Palmeira

  2. Carson College of Business at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Kunter Gunasti

Authors
  1. Mauricio Palmeira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kunter Gunasti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mauricio Palmeira.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

We have no conflict of interest to report.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 779 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Palmeira, M., Gunasti, K. The Conflict Between Partnership and Fairness in the Decision of Whom to Help. J Bus Ethics 183, 1173–1188 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05068-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05068-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation