Levine's study Flashcards
What area is Levine’s study in?
Social
What is a collectivist culture?
Priority is given to welfare of one or more collective entities e.g. a tribe, they look out for and help anyone in the community
What is an individualist culture?
they focus on the individual and nuclear family
What is purchasing power parity?
an economic wellbeing measure of how much the average income earned in that country was capable of purchasing
What is a simpatia country?
A country where being friendly, nice, agreeable and good natured is prioritised over personal achievement and productivity
What are the three aims of Levine’s study?
To determine if a city’s tendency to offer non-emergency help to strangers is stable across situations over a wide range of cultures
To research whether substantial variation exists across the cultures studied (collectivist vs individualist)
To identify country-level variables that might relate to differences in helping
What were the variables by which the countries were measured in Levine’s study?
Population size - over 230,000
Individualism vs collectivism rating
Pace of life - downtown walking speed
Purchasing power parity - economic indicator
Outline the dropped pen condition in Levine’s study?
walking at 15 paces per 10 seconds - towards a lone pedestrian passing in opposite direction. When 10-15 feet, the experimenter ‘accidentally’ dropped their pen, in full view of the subject, and continued walking past them.
Outline the hurt leg condition of Levine’s study
Walking with a heavy limp and wearing a large and clearly visible leg brace, experimenters accidentally dropped and unsuccessfully struggled to reach down for a pile of magazines as they came within 20 feet of a passing pedestrian
How many men and women were helped in the dropped pen condition of Levine’s study?
214 men and 210 women
How many men and women were helped in the hurt leg condition of Levine’s study?
253 men and 240 women
What were the discarded tasks of Levine’s study? and why were they discarded?
Asking for change - Nobody was carrying change at the time
Dropping a letter - posting it on - There had been letter bombs recently
Outline the blind person condition of Levine’s study
Experimenters dressed in dark glasses and carrying white canes acted the role of a blind person needing help getting across the street. they attempted to locate downtown corners with crosswalks, traffic signals and moderate, steady pedestrian flow. They stepped up to the curb just as the light turned green, held out their cane, and waited until someone offered help. A trial was terminated after 60 seconds or when the light changed
How many trials were conducted in the blind person condition of Levine’s study?
281
Were there any parts of the world which were neglected in Levine’s study?
Africa, oceana and northern Asia
Which were the three most helpful cities in Levine’s study? What were their percentages of overall helping?
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 93.33%
San jose, Costa Rica - 91.33%
Lilongwe, Malawi - 86%
Which were the three least helpful cities in Levine’s study? What were their percentages of overall helping?
Singapore, Singapore - 48%
New york, USA - 44.6%
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 40.33%
What were the percentages of helping for each condition in Mexico city in Levine’s study?
Pen = 55% leg = 80% Blind = 92%
What were the percentages of helping for each condition in Sofia in Levine’s study?
Pen = 69% Leg = 22% Blind = 80%
To what extent was there a relationship found between population size and helping behaviour?
None
To what extent was there a relationship found between purchasing power parity and helping behaviour?
There was a statistically significant relationship between PPP and both overall helping behaviour, and helping the blind person - lower levels of PPP tend to be more helpful
To what extent was there a relationship found between Collectivist-individualist rating and helping behaviour?
None
To what extent was there a relationship found between Pace of life and helping behaviour?
Although not statistically significant, there was a small relationship between walking speed and overall helping - participants with a faster pace of life less likely to help
What were the two strongest correlations of Levine’s study?
PPP and Overall helping - -0.43
PPP and blind person - -0.42
What were the two other sub-variables analysed in Levine’s study?
Gender - no difference between male and female
Simpatia countries - more likely to help than non-simpatia countries
simpatia = 83%
Non-simpatia = 66%
What were the conclusions of Levine’s study?
There is a negative correlation between the PPP and the level of help given.
Cities from Latin american countries and spain showed higher levels of help than other cultures (simpatia countries)
Which ethical guideline did Levine uphold?
Confidentiality - we know next to nothing about the people involved
Which ethical guidelines did Levine break?
Consent - participants were unaware that they were in a study so could not give consent
Deception - led to believe that they were experiencing a real life situation
Withdrawal - they couldn’t withdraw if they didn’t know they were part of a study
debrief - weren’t debriefed
Did Levine’s study have internal reliability?
Yes - All experimenters were dressed casually and clearly - were trained in what to do - had no verbal communication
No - It was still a different situation every time - there would be no way to fully standardise the situation
Did Levine’s study have external reliability?
had a very large sample across lots of countries - 1200 incidences across the world
Did Levine’s study have internal validity?
Not necessarily as it could have been investigating other things, such as morals or observation
It also only tested how men would be helped
Did Levine’s study have External (population) validity?
Yes, as it took place in 23 different cities and many types of people within these cities
Did Levine’s study have External (Ecological) validity?
Very good, participants didn’t know they were in a study, and was just on the street
Despite being a cross-cultural study, Why could Levine’s study still be ethnocentric?
The use of objects such as canes, magazines and pens may be different from what some cultures are used to
How does Levine’s study link to the free-will - determinist debate?
Participants chose whether to help or not
But was determined by PPP/culture
How does Levine’s study link to the Nature-nurture debate?
No nature
Nurture - Cultural upbringing
How does Levine’s study link to the Usefulness of research debate?
To tourists/travellers (business) - know whether or not they would be helped in certain places
charities
How does Levine’s study link to the psychology as a science debate?
is objective, standardised and falsifiable
How does Levine’s study link to the socially sensitive research debate?
Implications for low-ranking countries - reduction in tourism
How does Levine’s study link to the reductionism-holism debate?
Only looking at city life - not rural
But had 3 conditions, 23 cities, and 4 variables for choosing cities
How does Levine’s study link to the Individual-situational debate?
Morals - participant’s own choice
But were only put in that situation by someone needing help
What are two similarities between Levine’s study and Piliavin’s study?
Both used role play/fake scenario situations
Both had large sample sizes
What are two differences between Levine’s study and Piliavin’s study?
Levine is a cross-cultural study, whereas Piliavin was only in new york
They looked at different helping behaviours
How has Levine’s study changed our understanding of responses to people in need?
Shown that community variables have on an effect on helping - culture and country can affect their levels of helping
How hasn’t Levine’s study changed our understanding of responses to people in need?
Helping is based on the situation - overall levels of helping were fairly high which is the same as piliavin
How has Levine’s study changed our understanding of Individual diversity?
Argues against Piliavin’s findings by showing that females are just as likely to help ad males (in a non-emergency situation)
How has Levine’s study changed our understanding of cultural diversity?
Shows that there are cultural differences in levels of helping, particularly between countries that have a culture of simpatia and other countries
