EFFECTS OF DEGREE, LOCUS, AND CONTROLLABILITY OF DEPENDENCY, AND SEX OF SUBJECT ON ANTICIPATED AND ACTUAL HELPING.

DEPENDENCY (Psychology); QUESTIONNAIRES; INTERPERSONAL relations; PSYCHOLOGY; MANIPULATIVE behavior; RESPONSIBILITY

A questionnaire study (N = 185) and a field experiment (N = 114) replicating a situation described in the questionnaire were conducted to determine the effects of locus, controllability, and level of dependency on helping judgments and help-giving. The situations involved a wrong number phone call, a drunk staggering down the street, and a student requesting the S to fill out a questionnaire. Although the manipulations were not always successful, perceived dependency did correlate with measures of helping in all situations. Locus and controllability tended to be confounded, and it was suggested that external causes may always be viewed as uncontrollable. Female Ss generally judged that they would help more, except for helping a drunk stranger, and seemed more responsive to the manipulations. Males, however, were actually more helpful in the field experiment. Ss' reasons for helping focused on cost, perceived responsibility, recipient characteristics, and need but not primarily on affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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