Piliavin Flashcards
Background
- Kitty Genovese murder 1964 (38 witnesses, no one helped)
- Darley & Latané 1968 (more people helped with “seizure” when fewer people in discussion)
Key Terms
Bystander Apathy/Effect
People are less likely to help if others are present
Key Terms
Diffusion of Responsibility
In a group of people, people are unlikely to help. Everyone thinks that someone else will help so they are less responsible
Key Terms
Altruism
Unselfish concern for other people
Aims
- Would an ill person get more help than a drunk person?
- Would people help others of the same race before helping those of different races?
- If a model person started helping the victim, would that encourage others to also help?
- Would the number of bystanders who saw the victim influence how much help was given?
Independent Variables
- “Drunk” OR “Ill” Victim
- Black OR White Victim
- Model intervenes early (after 70s) OR late (after 150s)
- Model intervenes from critical area OR from adjacent area
Dependent Variables
Observer 1:
* Race, sex, location of passengers in critical area
* No. of passengers in carriage
* No. of helpers
* Race, sex, location of helpers
Observer 2:
* Race, sex, location in adjacent area
* Delay of first helper response
Both:
* Onlooker comments
Sample
- Opportunity sampling
- Roughly 4450 participants
- All passengers on 8th Avenue subway express train
- All in New York
- 55% white, 45% black
- Average of 43 people in carriage per trail
Procedure
Number of/Frequency of trials
- 103 trials
- Daily trials over 3 months
- Only weekdays between 11am and 3pm
- 6-8 trials per day
Procedure
Victims
- All men aged 26-35
- 3 white, 1 black
- All dressed identically (Eisenhower jacket)
- Ill victim had a black cane
- Drunk victim had a paper bag with a bottle inside and smelled of alcohol
Procedure
Students
- 4 teams of students
- 2 female observers
- 1 male “victim”
- 1 male model
- Models all white men aged 24-29
Procedure
Areas
Critical Area - The side of the carriage where the victim collapsed
Adjacent Area - The other side of the carriage
Procedure
Procedure
- Between the same two stops (uninterrupted 7.5 minute journey)
- 70 seconds in, victim collapsed
- Different victim and model conditions
Qualitative Results (Comments)
- Most comments made by women
- Most comments in drunk trials
- Most comments when no help given in first 70 seconds
- “It’s for men to help him”
- “I wish I could help - I’m not strong enough”
Quantitative Results
- 62/65 “ill” victims helped spontaneously
- 19/38 “drunk” victims helped spontaneously
- Median of 5s delay for “ill” victim
- Median of 109s delay for “drunk” victim
- 90% of first helpers were men
- Overall no real difference in help across race conditions
- Model had no real effect (most people helped immediately)
- Victims helped faster when 7+ men present
