This experiment investigated immediate recipient reactions (acceptance or refusal) to help as determined by the amount of help offered, resource control (whether the donor owned the resources offered, or was acting as an agent in giving them away), and the donor's and recipient's sex. The frequency of acceptance of aid in a task-performance setting, latency of acceptance or refusal, and the amount of help accepted were analyzed. Findings indicated that the latency of acceptance was significantly shorter than that of refusal, and was affected jointly by all three factors studied. Proportionately less help was accepted when a Large amount of resources was offered than when a Small amount was offered. Both the likelihood of acceptance and the amount of help accepted tended to be greater under agency than under Ownership. Moreover, the likelihood of acceptance of help tended to be distinctively lower in female donor-male recipient dyads than in the other dyads. These findings were explained in terms of the nature of the task, indebtedness and sex-role stereotypes.