Examining the relationship between achievement-orientedness and helping behaviour : a disposition-situation approach.

• Main Author: Siti Mariam Abdul Jalil.
• Other Authors: Wan Ching
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Motivation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/40187
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In present day, being achievement-oriented is deemed necessary to survive and prove one’s worth. Therefore as a society progresses, emphasis is placed on achievement-orientedness and an environment suitable to helping individuals attain success. However, being achievement-oriented possibly brings about lesser interpersonal sensitivity and in turn, affect one’s helping behaviour towards others. The following study shows a disposition-situation interaction in predicting helping behaviour. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three competitive normative conditions (other-competitive, self-competitive or non-competitive) and a helping situation was introduced by the role of a confederate. Results reveal that highly achievement-oriented individuals, compared to less achievement-oriented individuals, had a lower likelihood of helping only in the other-competitive condition but not in the self-competitive nor non-competitive condition.