Indebtedness: An Adverse Aspect of Asking for and Receiving Help

On the assumption that indebtedness is an aversive state, this study tested the hypothesis that Ss who do not anticipate being able to return a favor are less willing to ask for and receive needed help than Ss who anticipate being able to reciprocate. 48 Ss were assigned to one of four cells in a 2 x 2 factorial design, the independent variables being sex and anticipation of reciprocity. All three measures of unwillingness to ask for and receive help yielded data consistent with the hypothesis. There were no sex differences, nor was there any interaction between sex and anticipation of reciprocity.