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To Help or Not to Help? The Good Samaritan Effect and the Love of Money on Helping Behavior

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Abstract

This research tests a model of employee helping behavior (a component of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, OCB) that involves a direct path (Intrinsic Motives → Helping Behavior, the Good Samaritan Effect) and an indirect path (the Love of Money → Extrinsic Motives → Helping Behavior). Results for the full sample supported the Good Samaritan Effect. Further, the love of money was positively related to extrinsic motives that were negatively related with helping behavior. We tested the model across four cultures (the USA., Taiwan, Poland, and Egypt). The Good Samaritan Effect was significant for all four countries. For the indirect path, the first part was significant for all countries, except Egypt, whereas the second part was significant for Poland only. For Poland, the indirect path was significant and positive. The love of money may cause one to help in one culture (Poland) but not to help in others. Results were discussed in the light of ethical decision making.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Editor-in-Chief Alex␣C. Michalos, Thomas S. Bateman, Roy F. Baumeister, the late Father Wiatt Funk, Father James Kallarackan, and Father Mingel D’Souza for their encouragement and support, the Faculty Research & Creative Activity Committee of Middle Tennessee State University for the financial support, and James Van Buren for his assistance. All authors are arranged alphabetically after the two senior authors. The first author would like to dedicate this research article to the late Professor Kuan Ying Tang, especially in honoring his 100th birthday on October 10, 2007. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, August 11–14, 2002, Denver, CO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management & Marketing, Jennings A. Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University, P.O. Box 516, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, U.S.A.

    Thomas Li-Ping Tang

  2. Information Technology Division, Middle Tennessee State University, P.O. Box X-172, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, U.S.A.

    Toto Sutarso

  3. Eureka Globalization & Development Co, P.O. Box 1094, Swansea, SC, 29160, U.S.A.

    Grace Mei-Tzu Wu Davis

  4. Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Wroclaw Faculty, ul. Grunwaldzka 98, Wroclaw, 50-357, Poland

    Dariusz Dolinski

  5. Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences, Iman University, P.O. Box 3169, Riyadh, 11471, Saudi Arabia

    Abdul Hamid Safwat Ibrahim

  6. Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, U.S.A.

    Sharon Lynn Wagner

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  1. Thomas Li-Ping Tang
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  2. Toto Sutarso
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  5. Abdul Hamid Safwat Ibrahim
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Tang, T.LP., Sutarso, T., Davis, G.MT.W. et al. To Help or Not to Help? The Good Samaritan Effect and the Love of Money on Helping Behavior. J Bus Ethics 82, 865–887 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9598-7

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