Abstract
In the United States, people who are personally responsible for needing assistance arouse more negative and less positive affect and are less likely to be helped than people who are not personally responsible for their plight. The authors investigated whether this finding generalized to Ukraine, a more collectivist society. American and Ukrainian participants evaluated 16 claimants who needed an organ transplant and selected up to 6 claimants to receive an organ. Claimants varied in their degree of personal responsibility, contribution to society, and need. Results revealed that personal responsibility had a stronger influence on Americans' than Ukrainians' allocations, whereas contribution to society had a stronger influence on Ukrainians' than Americans' allocations. Participants' affective reactions to claimants mediated these cross-cultural effects.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
