The Effect of Interpersonal Sentiments on Behavioral Intention of Helping Behavior Among Japanese Students

Abstract

The effect of interpersonal sentiment on helping behavior among Japanese students was investigated in two studies. In Study 1, the effects of interpersonal sentiment, gender of subject, and gender of target person on everyday helping behavior were investigated. In Study 2, the effects of interpersonal sentiment, gender of subject, gender of target person, and type of situation were investigated. Positive sentiment toward a target person increased the subject's willingness to help, and negative sentiment toward a target person decreased the subject's willingness to help. Gender of subject and of target person, and situation had relatively little impact on willingness to help.