Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Intergroup Status as Helping Relations Model: Giving, Seeking and Receiving Help as Tools to Maintain or Challenge Social Inequality

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Intergroup Helping

Abstract

Recently, research on helping has broadened the emphasis in this field from research on who gives help to whom, when and why (Dovidio et al., The social psychology of prosocial behavior, Mahwah, NJ, 2006) to a broader consideration of helping relations between individuals and groups (Nadler, The oxford handbook of personality and social psychology, New York, 394–419, 2012). This emphasis on relations considers the readiness to seek, give and receive help, and the short- and long-term consequences for the helper, the recipient and the relations between them. Further, this emphasis on helping relations has also seen the extension from interpersonal helping to intergroup helping. Following an introduction that presents these past trends in social psychological research, the first part of the chapter will presents and discusses the Intergroup Helping as Status Relations (IHSR) model (Nadler, Journal of Social Issues 58:487–502, 2002), and related research. This model suggests that as giving help is associated with greater dependency on help with fewer resources, giving or receiving help has an impact on status relations between helper and recipient (Nadler, Journal of Social Issues 58:487–502, 2002; Nadler and Halabi, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91:97–110, 2006). Therefore, although giving help is often an expression of true caring, the readiness to seek, give and receive help from the outgroup is affected by people’s motivation to protect or challenge existing social inequality (Nadler and Halabi, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Oxford, 759–765, 2015). In the second part, we review recent research on psychological dynamics that turn helping into relationships of empowerment and equality rather than dependency and inequality (i.e. trust, perceived sense of control, common ingroup identity, apologising). In a third section, we focus on how the recipient’s social status determines whether helping develops into dependency- or autonomy-based relationships, and on the stigmatic effects of help-seeking by members of high- and low-status groups (e.g., Nadler and Chernyak-Hai, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 106:58–72, 2014). In the final section of the chapter, we discuss the conceptual and applied implications of this body of research for social psychological research, theory and the applied contribution towards combatting social inequality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Averill, J. R. (1973). Personal control over aversive stimuli and its relationship to stress. Psychological Bulletin, 80(4), 286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbarino, M. L., & Stürmer, S. (2016). Different origins of xenophile and xenophobic orientations in human personality structure: A theoretical perspective and some preliminary findings. Journal of Social Issues, 72(3), 432–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, J., & Zelditch, M. (1998). Status, power, and legitimacy: Strategies and theories. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blatz, C. W., Schumann, K., & Ross, M. (2009). Government apologies for historical injustices. Political Psychology, 30, 219–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branscombe, N. R., & Ellemers, N. (1998). Coping with group-based discrimination: Individualistic versus group-based strategies. In J. K. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target’s perspective. San Diego, CA: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branscombe, N. R., Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1999). The context and content of social identity threat. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, & B. Doosje (Eds.), Social identity: Context, commitment, content. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (2000). Social identity theory: Past achievements, current problems and future challenges. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 745–778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burhan, O. K., & van Leeuwen, E. (2016). Altering perceived cultural and economic threats can increase immigrant helping. Journal of Social Issues, 72(3), 548–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crosby, F. J., Iyer, A., & Sincharoen, S. (2006). Understanding affirmative action. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 585–611.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, E., & Platow, M. J. (2007). On helping lower status out-groups: The nature of the help and the stability of the intergroup status hierarchy. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 10(4), 258–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Tocqueville, A. (1956). Democracy in America. In R. D. Heffner (Ed.), Democracy in America: Mentor book edition. New York: New American Library. (Original work published 1853).

    Google Scholar 

  • Demoulin, S., Leyens, J. P., & Dovidio, J. F. (2009). Intergroup misunderstandings: Impact of divergent social realities. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, M., & Coleman, P. T. (Eds.). (2000). The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diehl, M., & Hay, E. L. (2010). Risk and resilience factors in coping with daily stress in adulthood: The role of age, self-concept incoherence, and personal control. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1132–1146.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., Validzic, A., Matoka, A., Johnson, B., & Frazier, S. (1997). Extending the benefits of recategorization: Evaluations, self-disclosure, and helping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33, 401–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A., & Penner, L. A. (2006). The social psychology of prosocial behavior. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1997). Sticking together or falling apart: In-group identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(3), 617–626.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. J. (2006). Intergroup conflict resolution. In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman, & E. Marcus (Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution (2nd ed., pp. 176–196). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, A. P. (1991). Structures of social life: The four elementary forms of human relations: Communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, market pricing. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, T. S., Harris, T. L., Russel, M. A., & Shelton, J. N. (2009). Divergent social realties, depending on where you sit: Perspectives from the stereotype content model. In S. Demoulin, J. P. Leyens, & J. F. Dovidio (Eds.), Intergroup misunderstanding: Impact of divergent social realities (pp. 313–327). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foddy, M., Platow, M. J., & Yamagishi, H. (2009). Group-based trust in strangers: The role of stereotypes and expectations. Psychological Science, 20, 419–422.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaertner, S. L., & Dovidio, J. F. (2000). Reducing intergroup bias: The common ingroup identity model. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaertner, S. L., & Dovidio, J. F. (2012). Reducing intergroup bias: The common ingroup identity model. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 439–457). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gaertner, S. L., Mann, J. A., Murrell, A. J., & Dovidio, J. F. (1989). Reduction of intergroup bias: The benefits of recategorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 239–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of Peace Research, 6, 167–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Dovidio, J. F., & Nadler, A. (2008). Offering help to the outgroup: Relationship between social dominance orientation and status threat on amount and type of assistance. Political Psychology, 29(6), 841–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Dovidio, J. F., & Nadler, A. (2014). Seeking help from the low status group: Effects of perceived stability, type of help and level of categorization. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 53, 139–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Dovidio, J. F., & Nadler, A. (2016b). Help that hurts? Perceptions of intergroup assistance. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 53, 65–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Dovidio, J. F., & Nadler, A. (2016a). Effects of perceived control on reactions to receiving help from outgroup. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., & Nadler, A. (2010). Receiving help: Consequences for the recipient. In S. Stürmer & M. Snyder (Eds.), The psychology of prosocial behavior (pp. 121–138). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Nadler, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2011). Reactions to receiving help from out-group helper: The moderating effect of group membership and task difficulty. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 2793–2815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halabi, S., Nadler, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2013). Positive responses to intergroup assistance: The roles of apology and trust. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 16(4), 395–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heilman, M. E., & Alcott, V. B. (2001). What I think you think of me: Women’s reactions to being viewed as beneficiaries of preferential selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 574–582.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heilman, M. E., & Herlihy, J. M. (1984). Affirmative action, negative reaction? Some moderating conditions. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 33(2), 204–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt, C. L., Aguilar, L., Kaiser, C. R., Blascovich, J., & Lee, K. (2007). The self-protective and undermining effects of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(6), 884–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackman, M. R. (1994). The velvet glove. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, L. M., & Esses, V. M. (2000). Effects on perceived economic competition on people’s willingness to help empower immigrants. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 3, 419–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jetten, J., Spears, R., & Manstead, A. S. R. (1996). Intergroup norms and intergroup discrimination: Distinctive self-categorization and social identity effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1222–1233.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jost, J. T., & Hunyady, O. (2005). Antecedents and consequences of system-justifying ideologies. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 260–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., Kogan, A., Piff, P. K., & Saturn, S. R. (2014). The sociocultural appraisals, values, and emotions (SAVE) framework of prosociality: Core processes from gene to meme. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 425–460.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kende, A., & Shnabel, N. (2017). Benevolent sexism and cross-gender helping: Challenging or maintaining the gender status quo?. In E. van Leeuwen & H. Zagefka (Eds.), Intergroup helping: The positive side of intergroup behaviour. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keridis, D. (2006). Earthquakes, diplomacy and new thinking in foreign policy. Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 30, 207–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederach, J. P. (1997). Building peace: Sustainable reconciliation in divided societies. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, M., Prosser, A., Evans, D., & Reicher, S. (2005). Identity and emergency intervention: How social group membership and inclusiveness of group boundaries shape helping behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 443–453.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McFarland, C., & Ross, M. (1982). Impact of causal attributions on affective reactions to success and failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 937–946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A. (1998). Esteem, relationships and achievement explanations of help seeking behavior. In S. A. Karabenick (Ed.), Strategic help seeking: Implications for learning and teaching (pp. 61–96). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A. (2002). Inter-group helping relations as power relations: Helping relations as affirming or challenging inter-group hierarchy. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 487–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A. (2012). From help-giving to helping relations: Belongingness and independence in social interaction. In K. Deaux & M. Snyder (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of personality and social psychology (pp. 394–419). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A. (2015). From help-giving to helping-relations: Belongingness and independence in social relations. In M. Snyder & K. Deaux (Eds.), The handbook of personality and social psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A. (2016). The historical and relational contexts of the study of positive behaviors across group boundaries. Journal of Social Issues, 72(3), 601–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., & Chernyak-Hai, L. (2014). Helping them stay where they are: Status effects on dependency/autonomy-oriented helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(1), 58–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., & Fisher, J. D. (1986). The role of threat to self-esteem and perceived control in recipient reactions to aid: Theory development and empirical validation. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 19, pp. 81–123). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., & Halabi, S. (2006). Intergroup helping as status relations: Effects of status stability in-group identification and type of help on receptivity to help from high status group. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 97–110.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., & Halabi, S. (2015). Intergroup helping: Giving, seeking, and receiving help across boundaries. In J. D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (Vol. 10, 2nd ed., pp. 759–765). Oxford: Elsevier.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., Halabi, S., & Harpaz-Gorodiesky, G. (2008). Intergroup helping as status organizing processes: Creating, maintaining and challenging status relations through giving, seeking and receiving help. In S. Demoulin, J. P. Leyens, & J. F. Dovidio (Eds.), Intergroup misunderstanding: Impact of divergent social realities (pp. 313–327). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., Harpaz-Gorodeisky, G., & Ben-David, Y. (2009). Defensive helping: Threat to group identity, ingroup identification, status stability and common group identity as determinants of intergroup help-giving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 823–834.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, A., & Liviatan, I. (2006). Intergroup reconciliation: Effects of adversary’s expressions of empathy, responsibility, and recipients’ trust. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 459–470.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nier, J. A., Gaertner, S. L., Dovidio, J. F., Banker, B. S., & Ward, C. M. (2001). Changing interracial evaluations and behavior: The effects of a common group identity. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 4, 299–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearlin, L. I., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19(1), 2–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pittinsky, T. L., & Montoya, R. M. (2016). Empathic joy in positive intergroup relations. Journal of Social Issues, 72(3), 511–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratkanis, A. R., & Turner, M. E. (1996). The proactive removal of discriminatory barriers: Affirmative action as effective help. Journal of Social Issues, 52(4), 111–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratto, F., & Walker, A. (2001). Dominance in disguise: Power, beneficence and exploitation in personal relationships. In A. Y. Lee-Chai & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The use and abuse of power: Multiple perspectives on the causes of corruption (pp. 93–112). Washington, DC: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachdev, I., & Bourhis, R. (1987). Status differentials and intergroup behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology, 17, 277–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, M. E., Major, B., Luhtanen, R., & Crocker, J. (1996). Social stigma and the potential costs of assumptive help. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 201–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shnabel, N., Bar-Anan, Y., Kende, A., Bareket, O., & Lazar, Y. (2016). Help to perpetuate traditional gender roles: Benevolent sexism increases engagement in dependency-oriented cross-gender helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110, 55–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, E. A. (1996). A guide to constructs of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 549–570.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sowell, T. (2004). Affirmative action around the world: An empirical study. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Täuber, S. (2017). Strategic help-avoidance and its impact on society: A review and research agenda. In E. van Leeuwen & H. Zagefka (Eds.), Intergroup helping: The positive side of intergroup behaviour. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, E. F., McGarty, C., & Mavor, K. I. (2009). Transforming apathy into movement: The role of pro-social emotions in motivating action for social change. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13, 310–333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, J. C., & Reynolds, K. J. (2001). The social identity perspective in intergroup relations: Theories, themes and controversies. In R. Brown & S. L. Gaertner (Eds.), Intergroup processes (pp. 133–153). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, E. (2007). Restoring identity through outgroup helping: Beliefs about international aid in response to the December 2004 tsunami. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 661–671.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, E. (2017). The SOUTH model: On the pros and cons of strategic outgroup helping. In E. van Leeuwen & H. Zagefka (Eds.), Intergroup helping: The positive side of intergroup behaviour. Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, E., & Täuber, S. (2012). Outgroup helping as a tool to communicate ingroup warmth. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 772–783.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wakefield, J., & Hopkins, N. (2017). Help that helps: Exploring strategic motivations in intergroup helping transaction. In E. van Leeuwen & H. Zagefka (Eds.), Intergroup helping: The positive side of intergroup behaviour. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1980). May I borrow your class notes? An attributional analysis of judgments of help giving in an achievement-related context. Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(5), 676–681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (2006). Social motivation, justice, and the moral emotions. An attributional approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zagefka, H., & James, T. (2015). The psychology of charitable donations to disaster victims and beyond. Social Issues and Policy Review, 9, 155–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zarit, S. H., Pearlin, L. I., & Schaie, K. W. (2003). Personal control in social and life course contexts. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a grant from the German Science Foundation (grant number: LE12603/3-2) awarded to the second author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences, The Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, 2 Rabenu Yerucham St., 8401, Tel-Aviv, 6108301, Israel

    Samer Halabi

  2. School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Arie Nadler

Authors
  1. Samer Halabi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Arie Nadler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samer Halabi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Esther van Leeuwen

  2. Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom

    Hanna Zagefka

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Halabi, S., Nadler, A. (2017). The Intergroup Status as Helping Relations Model: Giving, Seeking and Receiving Help as Tools to Maintain or Challenge Social Inequality. In: van Leeuwen, E., Zagefka, H. (eds) Intergroup Helping. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53026-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation