In the present study recipient reaction to help were investigated. In Experiment I, subjects either received help from a partner or not, and they either had the opportunity of reciprocating help to the partner or not. In Experiment II, after all subjects received help from a partner, they had (a) an opportunity of reciprocating help to the partner (reciprocation condition), (b) an opportunity of helping a third-person (helping-third-person condition), or (c) no opportunity of reciprocating help (nonreciprocation condition). The main dependent variable in both Experiment I and Experiment II was the recipient's estimation (impression, attraction) of the partner. The subjects in the receiving-helping-and-nonreciprocation condition estimated the partner more negatively than the subjects in the receiving-help-and-reciprocation condition (Experiment I). The subjects in the helping-third-person condition estimated the partner in a similar way as the subjects in the nonreciprocation condition, i.e. they estimated the partner more negatively than the subjects in the reciprocation condition (Experiment II). The results were discussed from the viewpoint of equity theory.
