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The Effects of Helper Intention on Gratitude and Indebtedness

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Abstract

Gratitude and indebtedness have often been equated in psychology. Emerging research, however, suggests that these emotions are experienced differently and occur in response to different situations (Gray, Emmons, & Morrison, 2001). The current set of experiments investigated the effects of helper intention on grateful and indebted reactions to a favor. Study 1 utilized scenario methodology to present participants with a favor that was given with benevolent or ulterior motives. Participants felt significantly more grateful when the helper had benevolent intentions. Reactions of indebtedness did not vary as a function of helper intention. In Study 2, participants recalled favors that had been done for them for either unselfish or selfish reasons. Participants reported significantly more gratitude for the favor when they were instructed to recall an unselfish favor. Levels of indebtedness were not affected by helper intention. Study 3 provided participants with an ambiguous favor scenario to better assess individuals' natural reactions to receiving help, and replicated the results of Study 1. Together, these three experiments provide support for differences between grateful and indebted emotions.

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Notes

  1. The author would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for pointing this out.

  2. Lack of gender information for these 24 participants was due to an experimenter error, and not to an unwillingness to disclose gender on the part of the individual participants.

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Aknowledgments

The author would like to express appreciation to Wade Rowatt for his comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and to thank the following individuals for data-collection assistance: Diana Castillo, Aline Defreitas, Courtney Drew, Brandi Glaspie, Amy Harper, Tonya Hyde, Tiara Mason, Vanessa Mizutowicz, Sara Pierce, Maricela Rábago, Kimberly Reeves, and Jason Vollmecke

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  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97334, Waco, Texas, 76798-7334, USA

    Jo-Ann Tsang

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  1. Jo-Ann Tsang
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Correspondence to Jo-Ann Tsang.

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Tsang, JA. The Effects of Helper Intention on Gratitude and Indebtedness. Motiv Emot 30, 198–204 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9031-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9031-z

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