Assignment problem: Responses to Being Helped
Most of the research in social psychology on altruism has been on the giver rather than the receiver of help. The text reflects this emphasis in discussing a variety of factors that influence a person's willingness to help.
How does the recipient respond to the assistance he or she is given? With gratitude? Research indicates that is not always the case. Kenneth Gergen and his associates (Gergen et al., 1975) conducted a cross-cultural study of those receiving aid. While the researchers found no major differences among the countries in recipients' evaluations of the donor, subjects were found to prefer donors who expected them to repay the aid. A greater liking was found for poor than wealthy donors, and subjects also indicated a greater desire to repay the poor than the wealthy donor, even when repayment was not demanded.
Why might people dislike free gifts? First, we may prefer relationships, which are equitable, in which giving and receiving are in balance. Then, too, we may suspect that the donor who apparently wants nothing in return is attempting to manipulate or use us in ways not clear at the moment.
Receiving aid may also have an effect on one's level of self-esteem (Fisher, Nadler, & Whitcher-Alagna, 1982). Help from another may make one feel incompetent; that is, the recipient's feelings might be, "I should have been able to do it myself." When aid lowers recipients' self-esteem, they are more likely to dislike the aid and the donor and to avoid seeking such help again. Fisher and Nadler (1974) found that when the donor is very similar to oneself, receiving aid is likely to reduce one's self-esteem. Being tutored by a fellow student can be deflating; being tutored by an expert is not.
How recipients respond to help is also influenced by their present level of self-esteem. Nadler, Altman, and Fisher (1979) manipulated subjects' self-esteem by providing positive or negative evaluations of their personalities. Later, when the subjects performed poorly on a laboratory task, their partners either provided help or did not. When the recipients' self-esteem was high, the aid made them feel worse; in contrast, when their self-esteem was low, the aid made them feel better, as if the support showed that others care.
Based on the information above on Altruism
1. What implications does this research have for the giving of international government aid?
2. Does the research have implications for social welfare policies established by the government?
3. Have you ever received a gift that made you feel uncomfortable? Are you suspicious of businesses that offer free gifts?
4. What other implications might there be from this research?