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Emotional reactions, perceived impact and perceived responsibility mediate the identifiable victim effect, proportion dominance effect and in-group effect respectively

Erlandsson, Arvid LU ; Björklund, Fredrik LU orcid and Bäckström, Martin LU (2015) In Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 127(March). p.1-14
Abstract
This study investigated possible mediators of the identifiable victim effect (IVE), the proportion dominance effect (PDE), and the in-group effect (IGE) in helping situations. In Studies 1-3, participants rated their emotional reactions (distress and sympathy toward the victims), perceived impact of helping, perceived responsibility to help, and helping motivation toward four versions of a helping situation. Gradually increasing victim identifiability in the helping situations primarily affected emotional reactions and sympathy completely mediated the IVE. Gradually making the reference-group smaller primarily affected perceived impact, and impact completely mediated the PDE. Gradually increasing in-groupness primarily affected perceived... (More)
This study investigated possible mediators of the identifiable victim effect (IVE), the proportion dominance effect (PDE), and the in-group effect (IGE) in helping situations. In Studies 1-3, participants rated their emotional reactions (distress and sympathy toward the victims), perceived impact of helping, perceived responsibility to help, and helping motivation toward four versions of a helping situation. Gradually increasing victim identifiability in the helping situations primarily affected emotional reactions and sympathy completely mediated the IVE. Gradually making the reference-group smaller primarily affected perceived impact, and impact completely mediated the PDE. Gradually increasing in-groupness primarily affected perceived responsibility, and responsibility completely mediated the IGE. Study 4 included real monetary allocations and largely replicated the results using a between-subject design. Together, the results shed light on how contextual factors trigger help motivation, and indicate that different helping effects are primarily mediated by different mechanisms. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
decision modes, emotional reactions, helping, identifiable victim effect, in-group bias, perceived responsibility, perceived impact, proportion dominance effect, sympathy
in
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
volume
127
issue
March
pages
1 - 14
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000355026300002
  • scopus:84917729561
ISSN
0749-5978
DOI
10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.11.003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0a8b768b-ab19-4a62-9eac-0a5bdf7e8e69 (old id 4810273)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:02:35
date last changed
2022-04-27 17:51:39
@article{0a8b768b-ab19-4a62-9eac-0a5bdf7e8e69,
  abstract     = {{This study investigated possible mediators of the identifiable victim effect (IVE), the proportion dominance effect (PDE), and the in-group effect (IGE) in helping situations. In Studies 1-3, participants rated their emotional reactions (distress and sympathy toward the victims), perceived impact of helping, perceived responsibility to help, and helping motivation toward four versions of a helping situation. Gradually increasing victim identifiability in the helping situations primarily affected emotional reactions and sympathy completely mediated the IVE. Gradually making the reference-group smaller primarily affected perceived impact, and impact completely mediated the PDE. Gradually increasing in-groupness primarily affected perceived responsibility, and responsibility completely mediated the IGE. Study 4 included real monetary allocations and largely replicated the results using a between-subject design. Together, the results shed light on how contextual factors trigger help motivation, and indicate that different helping effects are primarily mediated by different mechanisms.}},
  author       = {{Erlandsson, Arvid and Björklund, Fredrik and Bäckström, Martin}},
  issn         = {{0749-5978}},
  keywords     = {{decision modes; emotional reactions; helping; identifiable victim effect; in-group bias; perceived responsibility; perceived impact; proportion dominance effect; sympathy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{March}},
  pages        = {{1--14}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}},
  title        = {{Emotional reactions, perceived impact and perceived responsibility mediate the identifiable victim effect, proportion dominance effect and in-group effect respectively}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.11.003}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.11.003}},
  volume       = {{127}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}