Providing Help to People in Debt: The Effect of Perspective-Taking on Helping Behavior in Different Stages of Debt

This paper investigated whether perspective-taking instructions could successfully increase help providers’ sensitivity to help-seekers’ need for dependency-oriented help in circumstances of problematic debts. The help currently provided in the Netherlands is often not properly aligned with the problems at hand, with an overemphasis on the benefits of autonomy-oriented help (offering the tools to solve a problem independently) and a lack of understanding for the instrumental value and the necessity of dependency-oriented solutions (providing a full solution. In a sample of N = 374, a scenario-based design was employed to test the effect of perspective-taking and different stages of debt (early, intermediate, late) on the preferred help type offered. Findings revealed an overall preference for autonomy- over dependency-oriented help, and a higher willingness to help in later stage conditions. In line with expectations, a preference for autonomy-oriented help was found during earlier...Show moreThis paper investigated whether perspective-taking instructions could successfully increase help providers’ sensitivity to help-seekers’ need for dependency-oriented help in circumstances of problematic debts. The help currently provided in the Netherlands is often not properly aligned with the problems at hand, with an overemphasis on the benefits of autonomy-oriented help (offering the tools to solve a problem independently) and a lack of understanding for the instrumental value and the necessity of dependency-oriented solutions (providing a full solution. In a sample of N = 374, a scenario-based design was employed to test the effect of perspective-taking and different stages of debt (early, intermediate, late) on the preferred help type offered. Findings revealed an overall preference for autonomy- over dependency-oriented help, and a higher willingness to help in later stage conditions. In line with expectations, a preference for autonomy-oriented help was found during earlier stages, and for dependency-oriented help during later stages. Contrary to expectations, those who engaged in perspective-taking were more likely to offer autonomy-oriented help than dependency-oriented help. Nevertheless, in line with our predictions, those who took perspective did anticipate more stress and worse cognitive functioning in the debtor than those who did not. Together, these findings imply an increase in sensitivity for the help- seekers stress severity and cognitive capacities does not necessarily increase the appraisal of dependency-oriented help as a more appropriate solution. These findings have implications for our understanding of helping preferences and the Dutch debt assistance system, urging for a more stress-sensitive bottom-up approach.Show less

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Providing Help to People in Debt: The Effect of Perspective-Taking on Helping Behavior in Different Stages of Debt