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Children’s Perceptions of Indebtedness: The Help-seeker’s Perspective

Purchase College, State University of New York, USA

The present study examined age and ability differences in children’s evaluations of indebtedness in help-seeking. Second-, fourth-, and sixth-graders were separated into high-, medium-, and low-achievement groups. Children responded to two high-cost and two low-cost vignettes describing a hypothetical classroom help exchange between two peers. Second- and fourth-graders experienced difficulty in determining the extent of their indebtedness. Sixth-graders offered evaluations of indebtedness that varied systematically with helper cost. With the exception of the second-graders, low-achieving children did not differentiate their ratings across the cost conditions. In contrast, low-achieving second-graders and high-achieving sixth-graders rated the importance of reciprocation higher in the high-cost than in the low-cost condition. Children’s understanding of the norms guiding help-seeking interactions between peers is discussed.

International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol. 20, No. 4, 699-713 (1997)
DOI: 10.1080/016502597385135


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