| Multiple literature areas currently investigate helping behavior in the workplace (OCB/contextual performance, social support, and favor exchange), but they do so largely independently. Findings from the social support and favor exchange literature suggest that help does not always have positive consequences for the person receiving help, an unexplored outcome in the OCB literature. Using data from 158 employees and 219 supervisors, this study tested two primary hypotheses: (1) that altruism, task-focused interpersonal citizenship behavior (ICB), and citizenship behaviors directed at individuals (OBCI) scales all assess the same behavior---instrumental coworker help (ICH), and (2) that threatening characteristics of coworker help moderate the relation between supervisor perceptions of ICH and coworker reactions to ICH. Results supported our first assertion regarding the overlap in common measures of helping behavior scales. Our second assertion was partially supported, as results indicated that help highly rated by supervisors can have negative outcomes for recipients. |
