If You Need Help, Just Ask: Underestimating Compliance with Direct Requests for Help

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 95, No. 1, pp. 128-143, 2008

Posted: 5 Feb 2010

See all articles by Francis J. Flynn

Francis J. Flynn

Columbia University - Columbia Business School

Vanessa K. Bohns

Cornell University

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

A series of studies tested whether people underestimate the likelihood that others will comply with their direct requests for help. In the first 3 studies, people underestimated by as much as 50% the likelihood that others would agree to a direct request for help, across a range of requests occurring in both experimental and natural field settings. Studies 4 and 5 demonstrated that experimentally manipulating a person’s perspective (as help seeker or potential helper) could elicit this underestimation effect. Finally, in Study 6, the authors explored the source of the bias, finding that help seekers were less willing than potential helpers were to appreciate the social costs of refusing a direct request for help (the costs of saying “no”), attending instead to the instrumental costs of helping (the costs of saying “yes”).

Keywords: Helping Behavior, Help Seeking, Compliance, Interpersonal Relations

Suggested Citation

Flynn, Francis J. and Bohns, Vanessa K., If You Need Help, Just Ask: Underestimating Compliance with Direct Requests for Help (2008). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 95, No. 1, pp. 128-143, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1547977

Francis J. Flynn

Columbia University - Columbia Business School ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

Vanessa K. Bohns (Contact Author)

Cornell University ( email )

394 Ives Faculty Bldg
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

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