Peeta's kindness probably saved the lives of Katniss and her family from starvation. Katniss is depicted as an independent character who takes care of herself and her family, whose survival now depends on Peeta. He explains his feelings towards Peeta's actions like this: “I feel like I owe him something and I hate owing people. Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I would feel less conflicted now” (Collins 32). Katniss is grateful for Peeta's kindness and generosity, which makes her feel an uncomfortable sense of obligation towards him because when people start acting kind to her, she feels the need to give them something in return. Frank Flynn, a researcher at Stanford University, "suggests that immediately after a person does a favor for another, the recipient of the favor places more value on the favor than the doer" (Goldstein). Katniss places great value on Peeta's favor because she is used to hunting and feeding her family alone. A traditional female role is to depend on a male for survival, but in Katniss' situation she doesn't want to feel the need to depend on a male.