The Impact of Cost on Student Helping Behavior

Abstract The conditions under which Canadian students would help their peers and the extent of that help were investigated. Four variables—relationship, amount of contact, method of grading, and examination material—were manipulated to create hypothetical high-cost and low-cost situations. The results indicate that the respondents were most likely to help when the other students were friends, when there was frequent contact, and when the test was not graded on a curve (absence of competition).