Until February of 2020, doing a friend a favor was mostly a matter of logistics, timing and an honest conversation about whether, well, this friend was worth the effort. But, now, as the coronavirus continues to surge, every action, ask and decision carries more weight than ever.
However, if you still feel the desire to take one for the team and assist a pal in need, you're not alone. While doing favors isn't necessarily an innate human behavior, we're socially conditioned to want to help out when asked - whether it's wrong or not.
"People have this fundamental need to belong, and this fundamental need to feel like 'good people'," said Vanessa Bohns, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Cornell. "And saying 'no' to someone, rejecting someone who needs our help, goes against both of those things."
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