Helping Across Boundaries: Collectivism and Hierarchy in the Ultra-Orthodox Context

Understanding the role of collectivism in shaping prosocial behavior is critical for advancing theories of social cooperation and group dynamics. This study provides the first empirical examination of collectivistic orientation within the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community using the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism-Collectivism (HVIC) framework. Data from 702 participants revealed a predominant collectivist orientation, with a particularly strong emphasis on balanced collectivism. The study further explored how collectivist and individualist tendencies predict helping behaviors toward in-group and out-group members. Results indicate that conservatism positively predicts in-group prosocial behavior but negatively predicts out-group assistance, whereas balanced collectivism and individualism are associated with increased out-group helping. The strongest predictor of out-group assistance was an individual’s inherent disposition to help, suggesting that prosocial behavior extends beyond purely communal expectations and positions these individuals as natural agents of community change. This insight offers a perspective on how personal characteristics may contribute to community renewal. Our study contributes to cross-cultural research on collectivism and prosocial behavior by emphasizing the role of power orientation and resource allocation in shaping altruistic tendencies, while demonstrating that vertical orientations tend to reinforce in-group preferences.