Priming emotion concepts and helping behavior: How unlived emotions can influence action

• Lubomir Lamy

  University of South Paris

• Jacques Fischer-Lokou

  Université de Bretagne-Sud

• Nicolas Guéguen

  University of South Brittany

In a field setting, participants (N = 227) were primed with 1 of 3 concepts: love (positive valence), distress (negative valence), or solidarity (positive valence). Participants were then asked to give money to help hospitalized children. Results indicated that the inducing of love triggered more helpfulness than the inducing of solidarity or of distress. This finding is explained in light of the emotion schemas theory (Izard, 2007), the gender role theory of helping (Eagly & Crowley, 2006), and affective influences on information-processing strategies (Berkowitz, 2000).

1. Lubomir Lamy, University of South Paris
   Social Psychology
2. Jacques Fischer-Lokou, Université de Bretagne-Sud
   Department of Social Sciences
3. Nicolas Guéguen, University of South Brittany
   Department of Social Sciences

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