AUTHOR=Zhang Xiaoxiao , Zhao Xian , Liao Gengnan , Huang Yuanlin , Fang Xuan TITLE=COVID-19 alters the relationship between relational mobility and helping behavior JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1005235 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1005235 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

To determine if helping behaviors are affected by socioecological variables such as relational mobility and the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated the impact of relational mobility on helping behaviors before (Study 1) and during (Study 2) COVID-19 in China via two experiments. In Study 1, we manipulated participants’ relational mobility and found that a greater proportion of participants in the high relational mobility condition signed up for another psychological experiment, relative to the low relational mobility condition. In Study 2, the manipulation of relational mobility was embedded in a phone interview, and we found that a high relational mobility condition caused fewer signups for a COVID-19 support program relative to a low relational mobility condition. These results extend our understanding of the meaning of relational mobility under different ecological contexts.