Solidarity with everyone? Intergroup helping and COVID‐19

This study investigates peoples' prosocial attitudes and real‐life prosocial behaviour towards different ethnic groups during the COVID‐19 pandemic, taking Germany as an empirical example. In a preregistered multi‐study design, we examined: (a) who receives help, (b) who helps and (c) what explains prosocial behaviour. In study 1, we conducted a large‐scale, nation‐wide field experiment (1,980 help requests across 11 cities, resulting in 769 help offers in response). In study 2, we conducted an online survey with a general population sample (N = 1,033, Mage = 40 years, 43% females). Tests of proportions revealed high levels of prosocial attitudes as well as behaviour, favouring the ethnic ingroup (study 1), while regression analysis highlights the importance of empathy, compared to other theoretical predictors, for explaining prosocial behaviour (study 2). Findings underscore the relevance of ethnic boundaries during the pandemic crisis: Ethnic minority members benefit less from solidarity than ethnic majority members. However, we observe an attitude‐behaviour gap between field experimental and survey data, indicating the importance of observational studies when studying prosocial behaviour during the pandemic. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations

Societal crises such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic challenge public organizations in many ways. Yet, there is little knowledge of how varying crisis intensity can spark different reactions among public leaders and employees. This study examines the dynamics of the COVID-19 crisis in relation to leadership behaviors and employee outcomes for 920 individuals in 45 organizational units within the police, hospitals, and assisted living facilities. By conducting a panel study that combines nationwide data on crisis intensity with survey data from 2019 to 2021, the study shows that employee outcomes such as public service motivation and job satisfaction are higher in severe stages of the crisis. Likewise, crisis intensity is positively associated with employee perceived use of visionary transformational leadership, but negatively associated with employee perceived use of verbal transactional leadership. Hence, public leaders should be prepared to handle complex employee reactions when the next crisis occurs.

Manifestations of Support to Others in the Course of the Pandemic Crisis in Panama

The Covid-19 quarantine, its effects and impact, not only escalated into a slowed down global economic growth but also the modification of people's values and its manifestations. The purpose of this article is to reveal the manifestations of help and support to others, whether prosocial behaviors or simple solidarity, that developed from the crisis situation brought by the pandemic in the Republic of Panama. This article delivers quantifiable descriptions on the association of demographic data and prosocial actions performed by a sample of 502 survey participants during the time of the pandemic. Results suggest that social interaction in the form of emotional accompaniment and food provision were the most commonly performed prosocial actions during this period in general. According to sex, women were more inclined to offer advice and provide mentorship, while men were more inclined to offer making repairs. There is a statistically significant association between actions and levels of education where those with university degrees are mostly represented when it comes to giving money and paying off bills.

Global Consciousness Predicts Behavioral Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirical Evidence From 35 Cultures.

COVID-19 has drastically changed human behaviors and posed a threat to globalism by spurring a resurgence of nationalism. Promoting prosocial behavior within and across borders is of paramount importance for global cooperation to combat pandemics. To examine both self-report and actual prosocial behavior, we conducted the first empirical test of global consciousness theory in a multinational study of 35 cultures (N = 18,171 community adults stratified by age, gender, and region of residence). Global consciousness encompassed cosmopolitan orientation, identification with all humanity, and multicultural acquisition, whereas national consciousness reflected ethnic protection. Both global consciousness and national consciousness positively predicted perceived risk of coronavirus and concern about coronavirus, after controlling for interdependent self-construal. While global consciousness positively predicted prosocial behavior in response to COVID-19, national consciousness positively predicted defensive behavior. These findings shed light on overcoming national parochialism and provide a theoretical framework for the study of global unity and cooperation.

Social support and prosocial behavior in Chinese college students during the COVID-19 outbreak: a moderated mediation model of positive affect and parental care.

Purpose: Prosocial behavior (PSB) plays a critical role in everyday society, especially during the pandemic of COVID-19. Understanding the underlying mechanism will provide insight and advance its implementation. According to the theory of PSB, social interaction, family and individual characters all contribute to its development. The current study aimed to investigate the influencing factor of PSB among Chinese college students during COVID-19 outbreak. This is an attempt to understand the mechanism of PSB and to provide a reference for the formulation of policies aimed at promoting healthy collaborative relationships for college students. Method: The online questionnaire was administered to 664 college students from 29 provinces of China via Credamo platform. There were 332 medical students and 332 non-medical students aged between 18 and 25 included for final study. The mediating role of positive emotion/affect (PA) and the moderating role of parental care in the association between social support and PSB during the pandemic of COVID-19 was explored by using Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS), Prosocial Tendencies Measurement Scale (PTM), The Positive and Negative Affect (PANAS), as well as Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The process macro model of SPSS was adopted for mediating and moderating analysis. Results: The results showed that social support positively predicted PSB among Chinese college students, even after adding PA as a mediation variable. PA during COVID-19 mediated the association between social support and PSB. PSB also revealed as a predictor of PA by regression analysis. Moreover, the moderating effect of parental care in the relationship between PA and PSB was detected. Conclusion: PA under stress acts as a mediator between social support and PSB. This mediating effect was moderated by PC in childhood. In addition, PSB was observed to predict PA reversely. The promoting factors and path between the variables of PSB are complex and need to be explored extensively. The underlying factors and process should be further investigated for the development of intervention plans.

Impact of customer incivility on restaurant employee stress spread and turnover: COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

In response to the unprecedented pandemic in recent history, COVID-19 vaccination mandates in the U.S. caused significant changes and disruption in hospitality operations and customer experiences. The primary goal of this study is to examine whether and how customer incivility induced by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the U.S. affects employees' behavioral outcomes (i.e., stress spread between employees and turnover intention) via psychological mechanisms (i.e., stress and negative emotion) and when the relationship is moderated by personal (employee prosocial motivation) and organizational (supervisor support) characteristics. Findings show that customer incivility increases employee turnover intention as well as interpersonal conflicts at work via increased stress and negative emotions. These relationships are weakened when prosocial motivation of employees and the level of supervisor support is high. Findings expand the occupational stress model by specifically incorporating the context of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and further provide implications for restaurant managers and policy makers.

Drivers and Social Effects of the Decision to Turn on One?s Camera During Videoconferencing in Groups

With the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, videoconferencing was rapidly adopted. However, individuals frequently decide to keep their cameras off during videoconferences. Currently, the reasons for this are not well modeled, and neither are the social effects this decision has. The present research addresses the question whether camera use can be conceptualized as prosocial behavior. To this end, two preregistered studies (total N = 437) examined how the decision to turn on one's camera is influenced by established situational determinants (group size, social influence, and social tie strength) and dispositional predictors of prosocial behavior (individual communion, agency, and social value orientation), whether individuals prefer meetings in which others turn on their cameras, and whether camera use impacts social perception (communion and agency) by others. As predicted, people were shown to overall prefer meetings in which others turn on their cameras in Study 1 (a factorial survey). Furthermore, situational determinants of prosocial behavior were demonstrated to influence camera use in the hypothesized directions, while findings regarding dispositional predictors of prosocial behavior were mixed. Study 2 conceptually replicated the effect of social influence on camera use in a correlational survey. As predicted, it was also demonstrated that individuals who have their camera on are perceived as higher in agency, but, in contrast to predictions, not higher in communion. Together, the findings indicate that camera use is prosocial in that it benefits others, but that it is not primarily driven by prosocial intent or commonly interpreted as a prosocial act.

The social representation and social action effect of critical issues: autonomic system and self-report measures

By combining words and images that impact emotions and generate empathetic storytelling, advertising (ADV) has evolved into a form of communication for promoting consumer awareness, positive social change, and ADV-related decisional processes, even on topics of high-social relevance such as crisis communication. This study explored consumers' emotional and cognitive responses to crisis-related ADVs using implicit (autonomic) and explicit (self-report) measurements. Nineteen participants watched twelve high-impact social communications about Covid-19, personal health, safety, and prosociality, while autonomic and self-report data were collected. Personal health, safety, and prosociality had higher skin conductance than Covid-19 stimuli, indicating higher arousal and engagement. Personal health reported lower heart rate variability values than Covid-19, suggesting greater emotional reactions for personal health topics, but also lesser mental load for Covid-19 stimuli. Self-report results confirmed autonomic findings. In conclusion, communications about personal health, safety, and prosociality generate higher emotional impact and allow for effective storytelling that facilitates viewer identification, developing a high level of empathy.

Doing good or looking good: how socially responsible human resource management practices influence employees' CSR-specific performance

PurposeThis study examines whether, how and when socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) practices increase employees' in-role and extra-role corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from 422 employees of 68 companies.FindingsSRHRM improves employees' in-role CSR-specific performance via impression management motivation and enhance extra-role CSR-specific performance via prosocial motivation. Moral identity symbolization strengthens the relationship between SRHRM and impression management motivation, and moral identity internalization reinforces the relationship between SRHRM and prosocial motivation. The authors also propose mediated moderation models.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that company can adopt SRHRM practices to improve employees' in-role and extra-role CSR-specific performance.Originality/valueThis study reveals how and when SRHRM practices influence employees' CSR-specific performance and sheds light on the social impacts of SRHRM.

The Relationship between Values and Prosocial Behavior in Different Contexts before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has unprece-dentedly influenced social interactions, which can be implemented both in real life (offline) and on the Internet. Prosocial behavior as a type of social interactions has a positive impact on individuals and society, especially during crises. Prosocial behavior is determined by various factors, including individual values and contextu-al factors as the most influential ones. The form of prosocial behavior and its deter-minants may differ in different periods of the society functioning. Therefore, study-ing prosocial behavior before and during the pandemic, and identifying factors of its implementation in various contexts is a relevant task. This study explores the relationship between individual values and prosocial behavior, in an offline and an online context, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. A cross-sectional study with two sub-samples - the "pre-pandemic" group (N=304) and the "pandemic" group (N=187) - was conducted online, using the short version of Human Values Scale by S. Schwartz (ESS-21) and scales of prosocial behavior in online and offline contexts. Results show that during a pandemic people are less likely to engage in prosocial behavior offline and rely less on Self-Trans -cendence values. At the same time, in "the pre-pandemic" group, Self-Transcendence values contribute to prosocial behavior in both contexts, while Self-Enhancement values contribute to prosocial behavior in the online context. Next, in the "pandem-ic" group, Self-Transcendence values and Openness-to-Change values promote prosocial behavior in both contexts, while Conservation values discourage it. The results are discussed regarding the impact a pandemic has on people's lives.

DETERMINANTS OF THE ONLINE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant negative impact on people's life and behavior. This happens due to circumstances beyond the control of people, which lead to social isolation, increase in fear, anxiety, and other negative feelings and states. However, these negative feelings and states may have not only negative consequences, but also trigger prosocial behavior as a coping strategy. Prosocial behavior online is a relatively new domain of prosocial behavior developed due to an increase in ICT use in recent decades. Prosocial behavior online is more safe and less costly than offline one, and thus can be more relevant in times of the pandemic. This research was aimed at identifying the relationship between negative emotional states actualized by the COVID-19 pandemic (fear of COVID-19, stress, anxiety, depression) and prosocial behavior online. Cross-sectional study was conducted on a Russian sample (N=215) with the help of such instruments as Scale of Prosocial Behavior in an Online Context, Fear of COVID-19 scale and DASS-21. Regression analysis has shown that fear and anxiety contributed to prosocial behavior online, while depression inhibited it. The relationship between stress level and prosocial behavior online was not statistically significant. The results are discussed considering arousal potential of different negative emotional states. © 2023 National Research University Higher School of Economics. All rights reserved.

Drivers and Social Effects of the Decision to Turn on One's Camera During Videoconferencing in Groups

With the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, videoconferencing was rapidly adopted. However, individuals frequently decide to keep their cameras off during videoconferences. Currently, the reasons for this are not well modeled, and neither are the social effects this decision has. The present research addresses the question whether camera use can be conceptualized as prosocial behavior. To this end, two preregistered studies (total N = 437) examined how the decision to turn on one's camera is influenced by established situational determinants (group size, social influence, and social tie strength) and dispositional predictors of prosocial behavior (individual communion, agency, and social value orientation), whether individuals prefer meetings in which others turn on their cameras, and whether camera use impacts social perception (communion and agency) by others. As predicted, people were shown to overall prefer meetings in which others turn on their cameras in Study 1 (a factorial survey). Furthermore, situational determinants of prosocial behavior were demonstrated to influence camera use in the hypothesized directions, while findings regarding dispositional predictors of prosocial behavior were mixed. Study 2 conceptually replicated the effect of social influence on camera use in a correlational survey. As predicted, it was also demonstrated that individuals who have their camera on are perceived as higher in agency, but, in contrast to predictions, not higher in communion. Together, the findings indicate that camera use is prosocial in that it benefits others, but that it is not primarily driven by prosocial intent or commonly interpreted as a prosocial act. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Cyberpsychology is the property of Masarykova Univerzita, Fakulta Socialnich Studii and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Factors influencing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak

Purpose: This research paper highlights the economic impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to Coronavirus outbreaks. It proposes factors that influence the strengthening and survival of SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: In this research, resilience is reflected in the following aspects hope, problem resolution and persistence. This quantitative study analyses a purposive sample of 120 small and medium-sized firms in India. The study's primary data are the responses to questionnaires issued to respondents, analyzed and hypotheses formed and tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings: The study results show that all the variables significantly reduce the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs. The presented model is expected to help researchers, business modelers, analysts and real professionals with further studies in the SME context. Originality/value: This new approach adds to the business resilience knowledge of SMEs and has practical implications for manufacturing organizations seeking to become robust during and after COVID-19. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Encouraging prosocial behavior from older adults through robot teleoperation: A feasibility study

Introduction: In Japan, the social climate surrounding older adults has gotten worse as a result of the spread of COVID-19 and the growing isolation of older adults who are increasingly unable to engage in prosocial behavior through work and volunteering. This is detrimental to the physical and mental well-being of older adults. The purpose of this study is to look into robot teleoperation for older adults as a viable way to deal with these issues and overcome the barriers preventing older adults from engaging in prosocial behavior. Materials and methods: We designed and tested a remote-control approach for dialogue agents that is appropriate for older adults as well as evaluating their impressions in a real-world setting. Twelve older adults participated in experiments in two separate locations, a children's center and the city ward office, where they could remotely teleoperate a robot and have conversations with the visitors. In the city ward office, the older adults had a conversation with the visitors and gave them information and trivia quizzes about the city. In the children's center, older adults had conversations with children regarding their age, family, their likes, and dislikes. A questionnaire and interview were set up after the experiments to understand their impressions of the system and to clarify how older adults feel about certain issues regarding remote-controlled work, starting a new job, social interaction, to what extent have older adults been affected by the pandemic, how and in what ways has it affected their involvement in society, and whether teleoperating a robot can be a suitable approach to encourage prosocial behavior from them through volunteer work and social engagement. Results: The results show that older adults have a strong desire to engage in volunteer work, but are hampered mainly by physical isolation resulting from COVID-19 restrictions and their declining physical and mental health. Their impressions of the teleoperation system were highly positive, as they enjoyed having conversations with children through the robot. With this teleoperation system, older adults were able to remote control a robot by themselves without major issues. It made interaction simpler as conversing with children through a robot added a layer of anonymity that allowed older adults to express themselves freely without worrying about how they are perceived by others in public. Discussion: Older adults were able to successfully engage in prosocial behavior through remote-controlling a robot. The system seems to be effective at easing the physical barriers preventing older adults from engaging in volunteer work, which have worsened since the spread of COVID-19. Copyright © 2023 Maalouly, Hirano, Yamazaki, Nishio and Ishiguro.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VALUES AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic has unprecedentedly influenced social interactions, which can be implemented both in real life (offline) and on the Internet. Prosocial behavior as a type of social interactions has a positive impact on individuals and society, especially during crises. Prosocial behavior is determined by various factors, including individual values and contextual factors as the most influential ones. The form of prosocial behavior and its determinants may differ in different periods of the society functioning. Therefore, studying prosocial behavior before and during the pandemic, and identifying factors of its implementation in various contexts is a relevant task. This study explores the relationship between individual values and prosocial behavior, in an offline and an online context, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. A cross-sectional study with two sub-samples — the "pre-pandemic” group (N=304) and the "pandemic” group (N=187) — was conducted online, using the short version of Human Values Scale by S. Schwartz (ESS-21) and scales of prosocial behavior in online and offline contexts. Results show that during a pandemic people are less likely to engage in prosocial behavior offline and rely less on Self-Transcendence values. At the same time, in "the pre-pandemic” group, Self-Transcendence values contribute to prosocial behavior in both contexts, while Self-Enhancement values contribute to prosocial behavior in the online context. Next, in the "pandemic” group, Self-Transcendence values and Openness-to-Change values promote prosocial behavior in both contexts, while Conservation values discourage it. The results are discussed regarding the impact a pandemic has on people's lives. © 2023 National Research University Higher School of Economics. All rights reserved.

Pictures of a crisis. Destination marketing organizations' Instagram communication before and during a global health crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic enhanced social media communications at a time individuals were unable to leave their homes due to the lockdown measures. A lack of research has been identified on how destination marketing organizations use social media during global health crises. Addressing this gap, the present research uses a mixed-method approach to examine the use of Instagram by Milan and Paris' Destination Marketing Organizations before and during COVID-19 and user engagement with it. Via a quantitative content analysis, Study 1 reveals communication differences between destinations and a change in promotion focus during the pandemic. Both DMOs focus on posts portraying "Culture, History and Art", which signifies stability and eternity as opposed to uncertain times. Using a thematic analysis, Study 2 reveals that both organizations promoted pro-social behavior also by employing influencers. Overall, research results document tourism organizations' pro-social use of social media during a global health crisis.

Immune moral models? Pro-social rule breaking as a moral enhancement approach for ethical AI.

We are moving towards a future where Artificial Intelligence (AI) based agents make many decisions on behalf of humans. From healthcare decision-making to social media censoring, these agents face problems, and make decisions with ethical and societal implications. Ethical behaviour is a critical characteristic that we would like in a human-centric AI. A common observation in human-centric industries, like the service industry and healthcare, is that their professionals tend to break rules, if necessary, for pro-social reasons. This behaviour among humans is defined as pro-social rule breaking. To make AI agents more human-centric, we argue that there is a need for a mechanism that helps AI agents identify when to break rules set by their designers. To understand when AI agents need to break rules, we examine the conditions under which humans break rules for pro-social reasons. In this paper, we present a study that introduces a 'vaccination strategy dilemma' to human participants and analyzes their response. In this dilemma, one needs to decide whether they would distribute COVID-19 vaccines only to members of a high-risk group (follow the enforced rule) or, in selected cases, administer the vaccine to a few social influencers (break the rule), which might yield an overall greater benefit to society. The results of the empirical study suggest a relationship between stakeholder utilities and pro-social rule breaking (PSRB), which neither deontological nor utilitarian ethics completely explain. Finally, the paper discusses the design characteristics of an ethical agent capable of PSRB and the future research directions on PSRB in the AI realm. We hope that this will inform the design of future AI agents, and their decision-making behaviour.

Self-isolated but not alone: Community management work in the time of a pandemic

As the COVID-19 crisis forces individuals to self-isolate, work from home, and find new leisure activities, an increasing number are turning to online gaming. These online communities are often developed by community managers who work to engage communities and establish norms. Community management work, broadly, is considered the "soft-skilled" labor of communication, diplomacy, and empathy within an online community. Despite an obvious need for this work in mediating the myriad of personalities and sheer number of users, community management is often underpaid and precarious. Using early interviews with community managers, conducted during the COVID-19 crisis, I aim to highlight those who work promoting pro-social behavior in leisure spaces online. This work plays a vital role in community well-being, particularly for those who have not previously interacted extensively online. Community management is arguably an essential service during times of self-isolation, as they corral toxicity and shepherd users into positive online communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

CHINA'S SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM: DYSTOPIA OR PUBLIC WELFARE FACTOR

This article analyses China's social credit system, a digital sociotechnical phenomenon that assesses the reliability of people, companies, public organizations, and government institutions through reward-punishment mechanisms. It is aimed to encourage more honest and law-abiding behaviour to improve trust and quality of life in Chinese society. The article examines the evolution of social scoring systems in China in historical retrospect, beginning with the archival systems of the Han Dynasty and ending with the immediate predecessor of social credit, the so-called 'morality files.' The article describes the draft of the social credit system adopted in 2014 and its goals. It is shown that the Chinese government views the system as one of the main solutions to society's social problems. It is proved that the social credit system is also an effective regulatory measure, especially in emergency situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis considers the system as a category of social stratification and as a factor in exacerbating inequality, since people with higher levels of education and higher status tend to change their behaviour significantly in response to initiatives of the social credit system. It is concluded that this mechanism allows the state, through positive reinforcement based on indirect incentives, to manipulate citizens to act unconsciously in favour of an established social ideal. It is shown that despite the negative assessment of the Chinese social credit system by researchers as violating the democratic principles and rights of citizens, the system is supported by a large part of the PRC population, which has abandoned privacy in favour of public safety. However, the reasons for the popularity of social credit systems in China, along with cultural and historical preconditions, are censorship and state propaganda. © 2022 National Research University Higher School of Economics. All rights reserved.