The Influence Of Power On Altruistic Behavior:Related Moderation And Mediation Analysis

Altruism plays a vital role in human survival and social development.Inequality of power is prevalent in our social life.Different levels of power affect individuals’ cognition,mental processes and behavioral patterns.Although previous studies on the relationship between power and altruistic behavior have made some progress,there is still no consistent conclusion.In view of the cultural differences between China and the west,the concept of power may be constructed differently.Therefore,this study intends to explore the relationship between power and altruism in Chinese subject groups and study the mediating and mediating mechanisms.In this study,the relationship between power and altruistic behavior was comprehensively discussed through three research methods: experiment and questionnaire.In the first study,the influence of power and moral identity on the volunteer time was investigated by using an experimental study to manipulate the participants’ sense of power through recall.In the second study,the influence of power and moral identity on the altruistic tendency was investigated by using experimental research.Situational simulation was used to manipulate the subjects’ sense of power,social value orientation was regarded as the measurement indicator of dependent variables.In the third study,questionnaire survey was used to measure people’s general sense of power,moral identity,perspective taking and altruistic behaviors in daily life,to explore the influence of power on altruistic behaviors in daily life,as well as the moderating effect of moral identity and the mediating effect of perspective taking.The results indicate:(1)Moral identity can significantly promote individuals to make voluntary behavior.Power and moral identity have an interactive impact on individuals’ time donation.For high-power individuals,moral identity significantly promotes individual s’ time contribution.For low power individuals,there was no significant difference in time donation between high and low moral identity groups.(2)Power and moral identity have direct and interactive effects on altruistic tendencies respectively.Power reduces individuals’ altruistic tendency,while moral identity increases the altruistic tendency.In low moral identity group,people with low power have higher altruistic tendency than high powerful one.In the high moralidentity group,although the high and low power groups still have significant differences in altruistic tendency,the negative effect of power on altruistic behavior is weakened.(3)Power has negative influence on altruism in daily life and such effect is moderated by moral identity.In the high moral identity group,the relationship between power and altruistic behavior was not significant.In the low moral identity group,power significantly reduced the level of individuals’ altruism.(4)Perspective taking plays a significant mediating role between power and altruism,and the mediating effect is moderated by moral identity.In the low moral identity group,power has a negative influence on perspective taking,and thus reduces altruistic behavior.In the high morality group,the mediating effect of perspective taking was not significant.The significant negative effect of power on perspective taking becomes insignificant positive effect.