Financial scarcity raises negative consequences on individual and societal level. Much help is offered, but many people do not seek help. The goal of this research is to test whether an...Show moreFinancial scarcity raises negative consequences on individual and societal level. Much help is offered, but many people do not seek help. The goal of this research is to test whether an intervention designed to increase perceived financial self-efficacy increases the likelihood that people with financial problems take appropriate action. It is hypothesized that participants who are presented with a self-efficacy heightening website of an organisation that offers them financial help, perceive this organisation as more positive, are more likely to contact the organisation, and handle their situation more constructively (Hypothesis 1a, 1b, and 1c). It is expected that these effects are stronger when participants experience less control (Hypothesis 2a, 2b, and 2c). Results support hypothesis 1c and partly support hypothesis 2a: participants in the experimental condition rated the organisation as warmer, the lower they scored on self-efficacy, but not as more moral and competent. The other hypotheses were not supported.Show less
The current research investigated how a third-party observer interprets a request for help from the high-status group to the low-status group as a sign of gentle dominance. Gentle dominance was...Show moreThe current research investigated how a third-party observer interprets a request for help from the high-status group to the low-status group as a sign of gentle dominance. Gentle dominance was operationalized as a combination of two helping motives: inclusion and superiority. We expected that participants in the stable status relationship condition would more often attribute a high-status group's request for help to a low-status group to be rooted in a gentle dominance motive compared to participants in the unstable status relationship condition, but only when the two groups had a common identity rather than separate identities. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions of a 2 (Stability: stable vs. unstable) x 2 (Identity: common identity vs. separate identities) between-subjects experimental design. Results from an online questionnaire (N = 212) did not support previous research and our predictions that both a stable status hierarchy and the presence of a common identity were attributed to the gentle dominance motive. Exploratory analyses showed that participants perceived more prosocial emotions, from the requesting high-status group to the low-status group, when the groups had a common identity. Conversely, more negative emotions were found in the separate identities condition and unstable status relations, indicating that the high-status group wants to protect their high-status position. Implications of these findings in help-seeking as the high-status group are discussed.Show less
Gentle dominance is a motive for a group with a relative higher status to seek help from a group with a relative lower status. It combines a desire to improve the relationship between the groups,...Show moreGentle dominance is a motive for a group with a relative higher status to seek help from a group with a relative lower status. It combines a desire to improve the relationship between the groups, while trying to maintain the superior position of the high-status group. This could also distract the low-status group from the status difference. We expected that in order for gentle dominance to occur, the status difference between the two groups should not be likely to change (stable) and the two groups should have to share a part of their identities (common identity). To test this, we set up an online survey in which participants read a description of a situation in which the stability and identity of a pair of high- and low-status groups was manipulated. In this scenario the high-status group had to ask for help from the low-status group. The participants (N = 212), who served as observers of this situation, had to indicate on a questionnaire to what extent different possible motives for asking for help applied to the situation. The motives were: Gentle dominance, inclusion, superiority, actual help, assistance and exploitation. For each of the six motives an ANOVA on stability and identity was carried out and no significant effects were found. We concluded that stability and identity did not have an effect on the perception of the six motives. This is possibly because participants were not directly involved in the scenario. Further research is needed on this relatively new topic.Show less
