Previous research has stressed the positive effects of receiving autonomy-oriented help over dependency-oriented help but has overlooked a potential downside in terms of recipients' evaluations of the helper. Participants in the current experiment (n ¼ 77) requested help while working on difficult puzzles and received either autonomy-or dependency-oriented help from either an expert or a peer. In line with previous findings, receiving autonomy-oriented help led to more self-competence and positive feelings than dependency-oriented help. However, in support of our prediction, participants also felt angrier, had less respect for and less trust in the peer who provided autonomy-oriented help than the peer who provided dependency-oriented help. No differences in the evaluation of the expert helper were found. These findings highlight the importance of considering both the helpers' characteristics and the type of help provided when investigating the psychological consequences of receiving help.

This paper shows that receiving help could be psychologically harmful for recipients, and passing on help to others after receiving help ("helping forward") is a good strategy to improve and restore help recipients' self-competence. Participants (N = 87) received autonomy-or dependency-oriented help and anticipated helping forward or not. Compared to receiving autonomy-oriented help, receiving dependencyoriented help negatively affected participants' self-competence and their evaluation of the helper. Anticipation of future helping increased the liking for and evaluation of the helper. After paying help forward, participants felt more self-competent than before helping, and this effect was more pronounced among former recipients of dependency-oriented help. These results show that helping forward can negate the psychological threat associated with receiving help.Helping interactions are very common, ranging from small, informal acts of assistance to large-scale institutionalized policies. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, for example, include helping countries reduce poverty levels, and providing primary education and health care worldwide. Yet despite the widespread prevalence of help efforts, both at a small and a large scale, researchers and practitioners have been pointing to the downside of help exchanges for more than a decade (Buchanan

This field study investigated the consequences of receiving poverty aid through conditional transfer programmes in the form of autonomy‐oriented help (i.e., cash) or dependency‐oriented help (i.e., vouchers) in impoverished rural communities in Panama. The empowering effects of autonomy‐ (vs. dependency‐) help have so far only been studied in laboratory settings, or in settings where help could easily be refused. Little is known about the reactions of people who rely on help for extended periods of time. This study provides insights into how aid recipients are influenced by the type of aid they receive. Results showed that, as expected, recipients of cash reported more autonomy, empowerment, and life improvements than recipients of vouchers. Training, another type of autonomy‐oriented help, was positively related to empowerment, personal, and family change beliefs. These findings illustrate the benefits of autonomy‐oriented help programmes in empowering people from extremely poor communities around the world, who rely on aid for extended periods of time.