The phenomenon ‘help anyone, if helped by some’ is known as generalized reciprocity. Most research has considered generalized reciprocity from the perspective of social exchange theory, focusing on an obligated to process. In this study, we apply the interaction ritual chain (IRC) theory to theorize that individuals can pay it forward based on their previous emotional experiences. Specifically, we developed and examined a theoretical model to address why and when receiving social support could promote employees' helping others. In Study 1, a between-person three-wave time-lagged study of 627 employees, we found that emotional energy (EE) mediated the relationship between receiving social support at work and recipients' subsequent helping behaviours. In Study 2, a 10-day experience sampling study among 144 employees, we replicated the indirect effect of receiving social support on helping behaviour via EE at the within-person level. We also identified, consistent with IRC theory, a cross-level moderating effect of workplace status that differed depending on whom individuals received support from. Specifically, received supervisor support led to more EE for employees with higher workplace status than for those lower in status. With respect to received coworker support, the effect of support on EE was stronger for those lower in status than for those higher in status. Overall, our results shed light on the emotional experiences involved in workplace social interactions and suggested energized to as an alternative mechanism for interpreting generalized reciprocity beyond the obligated to process.

中文翻译：

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如果有人帮助的话，帮助任何人：通过互动仪式链理论的视角理解广义互惠

“如果有人帮助，就帮助任何人”的现象被称为广义互惠。大多数研究从社会交换理论的角度考虑了广义互惠，重点关注义务过程。在这项研究中，我们应用互动仪式链（IRC）理论来推论，个人可以根据他们之前的情感经历来传递它。具体来说，我们开发并研究了一个理论模型，以解决为什么以及何时接受社会支持可以促进员工帮助他人。在研究 1（一项针对 627 名员工的人际三波时滞研究）中，我们发现情绪能量 (EE) 介导了工作中接受的社会支持与接受者随后的帮助行为之间的关系。在研究 2 中，我们对 144 名员工进行了为期 10 天的体验抽样研究，我们通过 EE 在个人层面复制了接受社会支持对帮助行为的间接影响。我们还发现，与 IRC 理论一致，工作场所地位的跨层级调节效应会根据个人获得支持的对象而有所不同。具体来说，获得主管的支持会导致工作场所地位较高的员工比地位较低的员工获得更多的 EE。就获得的同事支持而言，对于地位较低的人来说，支持对 EE 的影响比地位较高的人更强。总体而言，我们的研究结果揭示了工作场所社交互动中涉及的情感体验，并建议将活力作为一种替代机制来解释超越义务处理的广义互惠。