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Comparing Americans' and Ukrainians' Allocations of Public Assistance

The Role of Affective Reactions in Helping Behavior

Stanford University, emullen{at}stanford.edu

Linda J. Skitka

University of Illinois at Chicago

In the United States, people who are personally responsible for needing assistance arouse more negative and less positive affect and are less likely to be helped than people who are not personally responsible for their plight. The authors investigated whether this finding generalized to Ukraine, a more collectivist society. American and Ukrainian participants evaluated 16 claimants who needed an organ transplant and selected up to 6 claimants to receive an organ. Claimants varied in their degree of personal responsibility, contribution to society, and need. Results revealed that personal responsibility had a stronger influence on Americans' than Ukrainians' allocations, whereas contribution to society had a stronger influence on Ukrainians' than Americans' allocations. Participants' affective reactions to claimants mediated these cross-cultural effects.

Key Words: distributive justice • culture • resource allocation • affect • helping

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 40, No. 2, 301-318 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022022108328916


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