Altruistic traits and organizational conditions in helping online

This study surveys business persons who use information systems in the workplace and indicates that altruism and job autonomy have both the main and interaction effects on the willingness to help others through information systems.

Abstract

Helping is more likely to occur when potential helpers can clearly understand the help-seeker's needs and when they can freely choose whether to help or not. Information systems such as electronic bulletin boards, web communities, and knowledge management systems all satisfy these conditions. In order to explain helping behaviors in the workplace, we employ the personality traits of altruism and job autonomy, as well as the characteristics of the information systems used by employees in organizations. In this study, we conducted a survey of business persons who use information systems in the workplace. The results of our study indicate that altruism and job autonomy have both the main and interaction effects on the willingness to help others through information systems. With regard to the effects of the characteristics of information systems, the media richness of information systems exerts a positive impact on willingness to help. On the contrary, the size of the user group affects the willingness to help negatively, which reflects the bystander effect in the offline world. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.