<p>Academic help-seeking is an important self-regulated learning strategy, yet many middle school students are reluctant to seek help from peers. This study examines whether and how academic help-giving causally influences help-seeking behavior. Across three studies, help-giving consistently predicted help-seeking. Study 1 (<i>n</i> = 710) used a self-report survey and found that both perceived help-seeking justification and perceived help-seeking threat mediated the relationship between help-giving and help-seeking. An experimental-causal-chain design in Study 2 (<i>n</i> = 418) established the causal links for each pathway: help-giving increased perceived justification and decreased perceived threat, while perceived justification promoted help-seeking and perceived threat inhibited it. Study 3 (<i>n</i> = 159) used a behavioral experiment in which participants first helped others and then had the opportunity to seek help. Perceived help-seeking justification mediated the effect of help-giving on help-seeking in Study 3, but the indirect effect through perceived help-seeking threat was not significant. These findings suggest that perceived help-seeking justification is an important psychological mechanism through which help-giving promotes help-seeking, particularly in help-exchange situations. The mediating role of perceived help-seeking threat in such situations appears relatively limited.</p>