What will happen, when you help me? - An intercultural look at indirect reciprocity

Some of the most basic questions concerning human reactions to kindness or helping behaviour of others are centred around issues of gratitude, appreciation or direct reciprocity (I help you, you help me). However, theoretical and experimental investigations indicate that indirect reciprocity (I help you, somebody will help me; You help me, I will help someone else) also is a part of the vast range of relational interactions. The article examines the topic of indirect reciprocity, especially in its "upstream" version, from a cultural perspective. The research was conducted on the group of 294 participants (98 Hindu, 98 Polish, and 98 Italian students). peerReviewed publishedVersion