This study investigated the link between instances of overt prejudicial behavior, especially in times of emotional upheaval, and deeply held feelings of bias that may lead to much more frequent instances of covert prejudicial behavior. One form of covert discrimination is withholding helping behavior, such as returning a lost letter of apparent importance. In this study, two hundred copies of a completed application for a pseudo honor society, with an addressed and stamped envelope, were left in public places in central Florida. The applications contained either a stereotypical Arabic name or a stereotypical American name. The forms were split evenly between Arabic and American names, and also divided by gender. This study examined whether prejudice felt by Americans toward Arab-Americans was enough to influence the return rate of the letters.

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Liao, Yuan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-57). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LISTS OF FIGURES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE: --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / THE DONOR'S PERSPECTIVE --- p.8 / Reciprocation --- p.9 / Positive self-evaluation --- p.11 / Social norms and approval --- p.12 / THE RECIPIENT'S PERSPECTIVE --- p.13 / Benefits of accepting help --- p.13 / Costs of accepting help: The Threat to Self-Esteem --- p.14 / INFLUENCE OF CHINESE CULTURE --- p.15 / OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT STUDIES --- p.16 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO: --- EMPIRICAL STUDIES --- p.20 / STUDY ONE: HELP-GIVING SITUATION --- p.20 / Method --- p.20 / Results --- p.23 / Discussion --- p.28 / STUDY TWO: HELP-RECEIVING SITUATION --- p.31 / Method --- p.31 / Results --- p.33 / Discussion --- p.38 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE: --- GENERAL DISCUSSION --- p.40 / INTEGRATIVE MODELS IN TWO SITUATIONS --- p.40 / POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS OF CHINESE CULTURE --- p.43 / PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS --- p.44 / LIMITATION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS --- p.45 / CONCLUSION --- p.47 / References --- p.48 / Appendices --- p.58 / Appendix 1 --- p.58 / Appendix 2 --- p.61

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

With dual-career couples and single-parent families on the rise, adults may find themselves overloaded with work and family responsibilities, resulting in the experience of work-family conflict (WFC). Further, employers appear to be demanding more from their employees, while giving less. Therefore, it is important to discover ways in which to manage the conflict between the work and family domains. Since level of involvement within a particular domain has been previously demonstrated to have a positive effect on WFC, the present study examined the possible moderating effects of social support on the relationship between work and family involvement and WFC. Surveys assessing work and family issues and dependent care needs were distributed to a random sample of university faculty, staff, and students. Since WFC was a focus of the present study, surveys from those respondents who met the following criteria were analyzed: a) those who worked more than 20 hours per week, and b) those who had either a partner or a child, resulting in a sample size of 203. Based upon factor analyses results, social support and WFC were addressed in terms of their subscales. Specifically, social support was assessed from three sources: a) partner; b) supervisor/co-workers; and c) friends/relatives. WFC was assessed as work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW) . Multiple hierarchical regression analyses indicated that family involvement was a significant predictor of both WIF and FIW, however, work involvement did not appear to have a positive effect on either type of WFC. Buffering effects of social support from all three sources were demonstrated for the relationship between family involvement and FIW. Additionally, social support from partner and from supervisor/co-workers moderated the relationship between work involvement and FIW. Further, social support from supervisor/co-workers moderated the relationship between family involvement and WIF. Finally, gender did not appear to have a significant effect on the buffering effects of social support. Limitations of the present study and future research implications are discussed.

A case study of two software teams in a large American software company revealed evidence of a power imbalance and intergroup conflict. The case study was used to generate questions about the effects of task-dependence on interpersonal work relationships. Situational affordances and Heider's balance theory were used to explain how task-dependence and expectations impel helping behaviour between coworkers. The theoretical model was tested using an experimental card-game. The card-game was designed so that the task would remain the same while three factors of task-dependence were manipulated: level of dependence (low vs. high), mutuality of dependence (asymmetric vs. symmetric), and reward interdependence (individual vs. group). The goal was to isolate these aspects of task-dependence and measure their effect on helpful behaviours and intragroup conflict. The results indicated that as the level (the amount) of dependence increases, the amount of intragroup conflict increases, but so does the number of helpful behaviours. As the mutuality of dependence changes from asymmetric to symmetric, the number of helpful behaviours increases, but the intragroup conflict decreases. The experiment deepens the findings of the case study: asymmetric dependence is associated with intragroup conflict and it presents a situation where the more powerful of the two is less inclined to give help to their dependent. Unexpectedly, however, if the level of the dependence increases, the more powerful of the two will offer more help. These findings contradict the predictions of social exchange theory, interdependence theory, and the power and influence approaches. Balance theory offers an explanation: a request for help coming from a co-worker in great need creates an imbalanced cognitive situation, one with more tension than the situation created when a request comes from someone less dependent. One way the help-giver can relieve their cognitive tension is to offer help; helping a co-worker satisfies the co-worker's expectations, thereby balancing the help-giver's cognitive situation. The experiment also demonstrated that a high level of task-dependence is necessary for helpful behaviours to increase; without the ability and opportunity to help afforded by task-dependence, greater social expectation will have little effect on the amount of helping behaviour.

A case study of two software teams in a large American software company revealed evidence of a power imbalance and intergroup conflict. The case study was used to generate questions about the effects of task-dependence on interpersonal work relationships. Situational affordances and Heider's balance theory were used to explain how task-dependence and expectations impel helping behaviour between coworkers. The theoretical model was tested using an experimental card-game. The card-game was designed so that the task would remain the same while three factors of task-dependence were manipulated: level of dependence (low vs. high), mutuality of dependence (asymmetric vs. symmetric), and reward interdependence (individual vs. group). The goal was to isolate these aspects of task-dependence and measure their effect on helpful behaviours and intragroup conflict. The results indicated that as the level (the amount) of dependence increases, the amount of intragroup conflict increases, but so does the number of helpful behaviours. As the mutuality of dependence changes from asymmetric to symmetric, the number of helpful behaviours increases, but the intragroup conflict decreases. The experiment deepens the findings of the case study: asymmetric dependence is associated with intragroup conflict and it presents a situation where the more powerful of the two is less inclined to give help to their dependent. Unexpectedly, however, if the level of the dependence increases, the more powerful of the two will offer more help. These findings contradict the predictions of social exchange theory, interdependence theory, and the power and influence approaches. Balance theory offers an explanation: a request for help coming from a co-worker in great need creates an imbalanced cognitive situation, one with more tension than the situation created when a request comes from someone less dependent. One way the help-giver can relieve their cognitive tension is to offer help; helping a co-worker satisfies the co-worker's expectations, thereby balancing the help-giver's cognitive situation. The experiment also demonstrated that a high level of task-dependence is necessary for helpful behaviours to increase; without the ability and opportunity to help afforded by task-dependence, greater social expectation will have little effect on the amount of helping behaviour.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1979.

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