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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
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It’s the Thought That Counts: On Perceiving How Helpers Decide to Lend a Hand

Daniel R. Ames

Columbia University, da358{at}columbia.edu

Francis J. Flynn

Columbia University

Elke U. Weber

Columbia University

How do people react to those who have helped them? The authors propose that a recipient’s evaluation of a helper’s intentions and the recipient’s own attitudes about future interactions with the helper depend partly on the recipient’s perceptions of how the helper decided to assist: on the basis of affect, of role, or of cost-benefit calculation. When a recipient perceives that the decision was based on affect (i.e., positive feelings about him or her), he or she will be more inclined toward future interaction and reciprocation than if he or she perceives the decision as based on role or cost-benefit calculation. It is proposed that these "decision modes" signal the helper’s underlying attitudes about the recipient, which in turn, clarify their relationship. A boundary is also identified: The negative impact of apparent cost-benefit thinking is greatest when the amount of help provided is small. Predictions are confirmed in four studies of actual and experimentally manipulated helping episodes.

Key Words: helping • prosocial behavior • person perception • social exchange • decision modes

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 4, 461-474 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167203261890
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