Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of controllability, social proximity, and recipient self-esteem on recipients' reactions to help. Five hundred students were asked to place themselves in the role of a hypothetical help recipient and to answer a series of quesions regarding their reactions to help.
As predicted, results indicated that to a significant degree recipients in high controllability condition attributed causes of receiving help more to themselves, and engaged in more self-help, than recipients in low controllability condition. It was also found that recipients who were helped by intimate friends felt more negative affects than those who were helped by acquaintances. These results were consisthent with our predictions.
Contrary to expectations, effects of social proximity on the recipients' positive affects and self-help efforts were not found. Furthermore, effects of recipient self-esteem on their negative affects and self-help efforts were not observed in this study. Overall, hypotheses based on the threat to self-esteem model received partial support. The conceptual implications of the findings were discussed.
