A group of 240 men and women of various ages were given the opportunity to express altruistic behavior in an interpersonal situation by granting a favor of permitting the experimenters, one white woman and two white men in their mid-twenties to enter a store check-out line ahead of them during the Christmas rush. The researchers hypothesized that as people age and become more socialized they would be more apt to help. Alternatively, they believed that changing American values would cause younger people to be more tolerant of the request. It was hypothesized that relative age between experimenter and subject would be most significant in determining cooperation. However, results showed that older males were most cooperative in their altruistic behavior, followed by young males, young females, and older females. Perhaps women over 45 regard shopping as a job and become hardened to the routine. Alternatively, agreeable and polite men may view shopping as a diversion and may be less fearful of strangers. Additional research utilizing experimenters over 45 is needed to balance the findings of this study. Three tables are included. (APG)