Above and Beyond: Helping Behaviors Among Nurses During COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic has created a crisis in the healthcare industry, with unprecedented levels of turnover, burnout, and stress. As such, frontline healthcare workers must rely more and more on each other to maintain their safety and performance. Integrating social exchange theory (SET), research on task-focused and person-focused helping, and reciprocal models of exchange, the current study extends the literature on social exchange and reciprocity by examining helping behaviors that occur without expectation of return. In the novel context of COVID-19, results from self-report surveys provide support that, despite assumptions of SET, individuals may continue to invest in partners regardless of perceived reciprocity. In addition, perceived coworker efficacy predicted helping behaviors independent of reciprocity, suggesting that individuals are willing to engage in helping behaviors despite a lack of calculated return at the individual level. These findings open several avenues for future research into the behaviors and reactions of individuals working under the stress of negative reciprocity relationships.