Reactions to Receiving and Providing Aid in Two Types of Relationships

对两种关系中接受和提供援助的反应

• 批准号: 8807894
• 负责人: Margaret Clark
• 金额: $ 6.73万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-07-15 至 1989-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8807894&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Reactions; Receiving; Providing; Aid; Two

Coming to understand the processes involved in giving and accepting aid is central to understanding social relationships. To date considerable literature has accumulated identifying determinants of whether and when a person will give aid to another and a smaller amount has accumulated identifying determinants of people's reactions to receiving aid. However, there are notable gaps in this literature. Almost no research exists aimed at identifying how potential donors of aid react to having provided (or having failed to provide) aid. Moreover, what research does exist on reactions to receiving and to providing aid has failed to consider how the type of relationship that exists or is desired between the donor and the recipient might mediate reactions to receiving and to having provided help. This research will begin to fill in these gaps. Two studies will examine reactions to receiving aid. In the first, people will be led to expect either a "communal" relationship (e.g. a friendship) or an "exchange relationship (e.g. a business-like relationship) with a potential donor of aid. Then they will or will not receive aid. Finally their mood states and self- evaluations will be assessed. In the second, people who naturally vary in their chronic levels of communal and exchange orientation toward relationships will either receive aid or not. Then, as in the first study, their mood and self-evaluations will be assessed. It is predicted that moods and self-evaluations will improve as a result of receiving aid when a communal relationship is desired or expected but will remain the same or even deteriorate when an exchange relationship is desired or expected. The third and fourth studies will assess reactions to having provided aid to another. In the third, people will be led to expect either a communal or an exhange relationship with another and they either will or will not be induced to provide aid to that other. Then their mood states and self-evaluations will be assessed. In the fourth, people who naturally vary in communal and exchange orientation will or will not be induced provide aid to another. Then their moods and self-evaluations will be assessed. It is expected that regardless of relationship type people's self-evaluations will improve as a result of having helped another. However, moods are expected to improve only if a communal relationship is expected or desired. This work will expand our currently scarce knowledge of reactions to receiving and providing aid. It should also reveal that expected relationship type is an extremely important moderator of these reactions. The latter contribution is viewed as very important since, although we have long known that most help is given and received within the context of friendships and family relationships (i.e. relationships that tend to be communal in nature), most social psychological work on the helping process has focused on helping that takes place between strangers. The research will also expand our knowledge about relationship types and individual differences in relationship orientation-areas of research that are just beginning to blossom. Finally, gaining an understanding of what types of persons and what types of situations are associatd with the most positive reations to providing and to receiving aid may have a very practical payoff. In may better enable us to recruit volunteers for helping projects as well as to better design ways of aiding the needy without eliciting resentment.

理解给予和接受援助的过程是理解社会关系的核心。迄今为止，相当多的文献已经积累了确定一个人是否以及何时会给予他人帮助的决定因素，而较少的文献已经积累了确定人们对接受援助的反应的决定因素。然而，在这方面的文献中有明显的空白。几乎没有研究旨在确定潜在援助国对提供（或未能提供）援助的反应。此外，现有的关于接受和提供援助反应的研究没有考虑到，捐赠者和受援者之间存在的或期望的关系类型如何调节对接受和提供帮助的反应。这项研究将开始填补这些空白。两项研究将调查人们对接受援助的反应。在第一种情况下，人们将被引导期望与潜在的援助国建立“公共”关系（如友谊）或“交换关系（如商业关系）”。然后他们会或不会得到援助。最后评估他们的情绪状态和自我评价。在第二种情况下，那些自然地在长期的公共和交流取向水平上有所不同的人，要么接受援助，要么不接受援助。然后，和第一项研究一样，他们的情绪和自我评价将被评估。据预测，当渴望或期待公共关系时，情绪和自我评价会因接受援助而改善，但当渴望或期待交换关系时，情绪和自我评价会保持不变甚至恶化。第三和第四项研究将评估向他人提供援助后的反应。在第三种情况下，人们将被引导期望与另一个人建立一种公共或交换关系，他们将或不会被诱导向另一个人提供援助。然后对他们的情绪状态和自我评价进行评估。第四，在公共和交换取向上自然不同的人们会或不会被诱导提供帮助。然后对他们的情绪和自我评价进行评估。不管关系类型如何，人们的自我评价都会因为帮助他人而提高。然而，只有当人们期望或渴望公共关系时，情绪才会有所改善。这项工作将扩大我们目前对接受和提供援助的反应的稀缺知识。它还应该揭示预期的关系类型是这些反应的极其重要的调节因素。后一种贡献被认为非常重要，因为尽管我们早就知道大多数帮助是在友谊和家庭关系的背景下给予和接受的（即本质上倾向于公共的关系），但大多数关于帮助过程的社会心理学工作都集中在陌生人之间的帮助上。这项研究还将扩展我们对关系类型和关系取向中的个体差异的认识，这些研究领域刚刚开始蓬勃发展。最后，了解哪种类型的人和哪种类型的情况与提供和接受援助的最积极关系有关，可能会有非常实际的回报。它可以使我们更好地招募志愿者帮助项目，以及更好地设计帮助有需要的人而不会引起怨恨的方法。