When and how refusing to help decreases one's influence

When does saying no to a helping request hurt a person's influence? Across five studies, when someone was asked for help, saying no had two opposing effects on their actual and perceived influence by increasing their dominance, but decreasing their prestige. The cost of providing help moderated these effects. Overall, refusing to help decreased a person's influence when helping cost little time, effort, or money, compared to both agreeing to help and a control condition. This effect was eliminated or reversed with a higher cost of helping. Individuals who refused to provide low-cost help were perceived as less prestigious and influential than those who refused to provide high-cost help, but individuals who agreed to help were perceived similarly regardless of helping's cost. Our research highlights the importance of both prestige and dominance effects for a person's influence, and the cost of helping as a major contextual factor for helping's consequences.