Lending a Helping Hand at Work: A Multilevel Investigation of Prosocial Motivation, Inclusive Climate and Inclusive Behavior.
Philippe T J H Nelissen, Ute R Hülsheger, Gemma M C van Ruitenbeek and 1 others
PMID 27837374WHAT IT FOUND
When a work team has a strong inclusive climate, colleagues help people with disabilities more.
In teams with a weak climate, only those personally motivated to help others stepped up. Building a shared norm of inclusion matters more than trying to change individual attitudes.
Key findings
01Individual prosocial motivation and team inclusive climate were both independently associated with higher peer-rated inclusive behavior toward colleagues with disabilities.
02Inclusive climate moderated the link between motivation and behavior: in low-climate teams, prosocial motivation strongly predicted helping, but in high-climate teams, motivation no longer predicted helping.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that prosocial motivation or inclusive climate causes inclusive behavior; the relationships could be reversed or reciprocal. Response rates were low overall (35% for employees, 29.4% for peers), though this was largely due to one organization in a pilot phase. Inclusive behavior was measured by peer report rather than direct observation or the perspective of the person with a disability, leaving room for social desirability bias. The study grouped all types of disabilities together (physical, cognitive, mental, sensory), so it cannot determine if results differ for specific disability types.
Declared interests
The study was funded by UWV, the Dutch employee insurance agency, which is responsible for employment services and disability benefits. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that training individual employees on prosocial motivation is the most effective way to increase inclusive behavior. The data shows that in teams with a strong inclusive climate, individual motivation had no additional effect on helping. Focus on shaping the team environment and shared norms first.