The Influence Of Vertical Space On Helping Behavior In The Workplace

Since ancient times,the ancestors have already learned the importance of the heights.For example,"The Art of War" says: "All the army likes heights and hates the low places...",plainly stated that the high and low positions play a role in military warfare.In fact,there are also some examples of the use of vertical space in our daily business activities.For example,pawnshops usually set the counters deliberately high to facilitate the store's price reduction.Then,in management,will there be some unintended effects in using the high and low positions? If so,what is the mechanism between them?Based on a detailed introduction of conceptual metaphor theory and a review of domestic and foreign research on vertical space,moral judgments,and helping behaviors,the author proposes four basic hypotheses and theoretical models based on certain logical reasoning.In this study,a laboratory experiment was used to try to explore the relationship between the vertical space location of the object and the behavior of the helper,and to examine the mediating role of other people's moral judgments on the objects in different vertical spaces.The whole research process includes three experiments,and these three experiments are all single factor design with two levels(low vs.high),and all the participants are also college students.The result of study 1 shows that the subject is more willing to help the object at a higher position compared to the object at a low position,which supports the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between the height of the object and the help it can obtain.In study 2 we use experimental causal chain to further explore the mediated mechanism of these two.Study 2a explores the relationship between the height of the object and the moral judgment of the others,and finds that the object at higher position is judged to be more moral than the object at a low position.Study 2b directly manipulates the moral level of the object and explores the individual's intention to help the objects of different moral levels.And the result shows that people are more willing to help moral person than the one of low morality.The two sub-researches in study 2 support that other people's moral judgments at objects in different high and low position mediate the positive relationship between the height of the objects and the help they can obtain.The main contribution of this study lies in the fact that for the first time it has been verified that the help received in different high and low positions is not the same,which moral judgment is an mediating role between them.Finally,the author put forward three shortcomings and prospects based on the results of this article and their enlightenment in management practice by reviewing the entire research process.