Relative weight of the recipient's benefits and the donor's costs in determining the magnitude of indebtedness

Abstract

Greenberg (1980) proposed that the magnitude of indebtedness(I) was a function of the recipient's benefits(B) from the aid attempt plus the donor's costs(C). This relationship is expressed by the equation I=x1B+x2C, x1>x2, where x1 and x2 are empirically determined weights. The present study examined the validity of this equation. The subjects, 272 university students, were asked to place themselves in the role of a hypothetical student confronted with each of 32 different situations in which the student needed some aid from others, and to answer a series of questions regarding their reactions. A multiple regression analysis validated the equation in 23 out of the 32 situations. In situations in which the outcome of the aid attempt was successful with low cost for the donor, there was a tendency for the subjects to estimate x1 to be smaller than x2(x1