ABSTRACT
I n their review of four decades of research on helping behavior, Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, and Schroeder (2005) classify these works into (a) microlevel research, which focuses on identifying the evolutionary origins and individual differences in people's tendency to help others; (b) mesolevel research, which focuses on variables and processes in the helper-recipient dyad; and (c) macrolevel research, which studies prosocial behavior within groups, communities, and organizations. Although research in each of these three categories has a different emphasis, they are all united by the goal of uncovering variables and processes that explain and predict people's willingness to offer a helping hand to others in need. The present chapter, however, takes a different tack. It examines the implications of intergroup helping on status relations between the actors involved. It postulates that groups create, maintain, or challenge status relations through helping relations. More specifically, giving to the outgroup may be motivated by the wish for positive ingroup distinctiveness, and dependency on the outgroup's help may signal the acceptance of the helper's higher status whereas rejecting it may reflect a desire to change existing status relations. These dynamics may give rise to intergroup misunderstandings in that an offer of help from the outgroup may be viewed as a manipulative ploy to retain dominance and therefore be rejected. By contrast, the spurning of help by a group may be perceived as ingratitude and distrust.
