Affective Consequences of Refusing to Help in Communal and Exchange Relationships

Abstract

Two studies illustrate the importance of a distinction between communal and exchange relationships in understanding reactions to helping and refusing to help. In Study 1, refusing to help caused declines in positive affect when a communal (but not an exchange) relationship with the help seeker was desired. In Study 2, recalling a refusal to help a communal (but not an exchange) partner caused declines in positive affect. Recalling when some-one else helped or refused to help did not produce analogous changes. Results demonstrate that there are differential reactions to refusing to help in communal and exchange relationships, differential reactions apply to naturally occurring relationships as well as desired relationships created by laboratory manipulations, and affective reactions in communal relationships are not due to merely knowing the other has (or has not) been helped. The authors suggest that they reflect the impact that helping or failing to help may have on communal relationships.