Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Really, You Should Be Thanking Us: Paternalism And Instrumental Gratitude Expectations, Greg Larsen

Doctoral Dissertations

Intergroup helping is sometimes motivated by paternalistic narratives about recipients being incapable of making good choices. Five studies investigated whether paternalistic perceptions of recipients encouraged members of groups that provide help expect gratitude from recipients, and whether receiving gratitude and affirmation from recipients was rewarded when it was given. I first found preliminary evidence that paternalistic perceptions of recipients affects the way that members of a helper group respond to recipients’ responses to help (Study 1). I then found that believing paternalistic narratives about recipients did increase participants' expectations that recipients should show them gratitude, and that these expectations did …