PERCEPTIONS OF SELF-ORIENTED AND OTHER-ORIENTED HELP-PROVIDERS

Two studies were conducted to assess the relationship between an indiv idual's self-described motivation for being a help-provider (i.e., a l awyer in Study 1 and a physician in Study 2) and college undergraduate s' perceptions of, and desire to seek assistance from, that help-provi der. The major findings were incongruent with the notion inferred from the helping literature that altruistically motivated help-providers w ould be consistently evaluated more favorably than, and preferred over , egoistically motivated help-providers. Specifically, whereas the oth er-oriented help-providers were rated as more likable, honest, and les s devious than the self-oriented help-providers, the self-oriented hel p-providers were rated as more ambitious, competent, and as earning mo re money than the other-oriented help-providers, Moreover, although th e participants' ''desire to hire'' a particular help-provider was foun d to be associated with: (1) their perceptions of the help-provider's characteristics (Studies 1 and 2), (2) their own self-reported charact eristics (Study 1), and (3) their anticipated affective state prior to seeking assistance (Studies 1 and 2), no clear relation was found in either study between the help-provider's motivation and the participan ts' desire to seek assistance from that help-provider. In contrast to the ambivalence demonstrated in response to the altruistically and ego istically motivated professional help-providers in Studies 1 and 2, pa rticipants in a preliminary study of perceptions of ''everyday'' helpe rs demonstrated a clear preference for altruistically motivated assist ance (although these participants' evaluations were found to be influe nced by the closeness of the relationship between the helper and recip ient, the type of help provided, the participants' gender, and the gen der of the helper-recipient dyad). Considered together, the pattern of results suggests the broad range of situational and individual differ ence variables that may affect perceptions of, and reactions to, self- oriented and other-oriented help-providers.