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Article
| Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings
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2009
Compelled to Help: Effects of Direct and Indirect Exchange on Perceived Obligation in Professional Networks
by
Roy Y.J. Chua, Billian Sullivan and Michael W. Morris
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Abstract
This research examines felt obligation to help others in employees' and managers' professional networks using a social exchange perspective. We hypothesize that obligation toward others would follow the norms of both direct and indirect reciprocity. Direct reciprocity predicts that obligation toward network members increases to the extent that one receives resources directly from others. In the case of socio-emotional resources, such as friendship and mentorship, this obligation is mediated by affective closeness. Indirect reciprocity predicts that obligation is felt toward others simply as a function of their inclusion in one's network, implying that obligation increases with the others' degree of embeddedness in the network. Results from two network surveys supported these hypotheses.
Keywords: Perspective;
Conflict of Interests;
Research;
Surveys;
Networks;
Forecasting and Prediction;
Social Issues;