Piliavin et al. Flashcards
What is the background to Piliavin’s research?
the murder of Kitty Genovese
woman in New York who was stabbed going home from work
38 neighbours heard her cry for help but no one rang the police
What did Darley and Latane (1968) propose bystander behaviour is caused by?
diffusion of responsibility
more people = less help
What is the aim of Piliavin’s study?
to study the bystander effect in a natural setting
if characteristics would effect behaviour
What method design did Piliavin use?
field experiment
independent measures
observational technique
snapshot study
What measures/ independent variables did Piliavin use?
type of victim- drunk or with a cane
race of victim- black or white
modelling- seeing someone else help
group size
What were the dependent variables in Piliavin’s study?
time took for help to be offered
number of people who offered
What was Piliavin’s sampling technique?
opportunity sample
passengers travelling on a New York subway from Harlem to the Bronx
When were Piliavin’s participants studied?
middle of the day- 11am-3pm
2 months- 15th April-26th June 1968
weekdays
How many people did Piliavin study? How many black and white?
about 4,450
about 45% black and 55% white
What was the mean amount of people on the carriage in Piliavin’s study? How many in the critical area?
43
8.5 in critical area
What was the critical area in Piliavin’s study?
the area in the train where the incident took place
What were the confederates in Piliavin’s study’s characteristics?
all General Studies students
from Columbia University, New York
from 25-35 yrs old
four teams of 4 students- 1 male model, 1 male victim, 2 female observers
only 1 victim was black
How many trials took place in Piliavin’s study?
103 separate trials
What did Piliavin’s victim and model do?
after 70 seconds staggered + collapsed + remained lying on his back
if no one helped when the train was coming to a stop the model helped the victim
What did all of Piliavin’s victims wear?
Eisenhower jacket
old trousers
no tie
What did the drunk victim have in Piliavin’s study?
carried a liquor bottle in a brown bag
smelt of liquor
How many trials was the drunk victim used in Piliavin’s study?
38 trials
What did the cane victim have in Piliavin’s study?
sober
carrying a black cane
How many trials was the cane victim used in Piliavin’s study?
65 trials
How long did Piliain’s subway route/ trial run for?
7 and a half minutes
How long did Piliavin’s models wait to help? How did they determine this?
70 or 150 seconds
preprogrammed using a random number table
What did Piliavin’s observers record?
1st observer- race, sex + location of everyone in critical area
-total no. of people in the carriage
-total no. who helped the victim
-race, sex + location of every helper
2nd observer- race, sex + location of everyone in the adjacent area
- time when help was first offered
both- comments from other passengers
How often did the cane victims get spontaneous help in Piliavin’s study?
95% or 62/65 of the trials
How often did the drunk victims get spontaneous help in Piliavin’s study?
50% or 19/38 of the trials
What trial did people leave the critical area in Piliavin’s study? How many?
particularly drunk trials
34 people, 21/103 trials
What percentage of people helped before the model in the drunk and cane trial in Piliavin’s study?
87% cane victims helped
17% drunk victims helped
What was the median time (latency) for people to help the victims in the drunk and cane times?
cane was 5 seconds
drunk was 109 seconds
Were there any race differences in helping in Piliavin’s study?
black people received less help + less quickly then white
same-race effect- whites slightly more likely to help whites in the drunk condition
Were there any gender differences in helping in Piliavin’s study?
males more helpful then females
90% first helpers female - only 60% passengers male
Did modelling timing in Piliavin’s study have a difference?
early modelling (70secs) had slightly more effect than the late model (150secs)
not much info as most helped before this time
Did group size in Piliavin’s study have a difference?
more passengers = more likely to help
more likely to help in groups of 7 than 3
When were comments more likely to be made by passengers in Piliavin’s study?
more comments in the drunk condition than the cane
most comments made when no help was given within 70 seconds
What area is Piliavin’s study in?
social area
What theory did Piliavin conclude from his research?
cost reward model
What is Piliavin’s cost-reward model?
emergency situation creates a sense of arousal in bystander
arousal heightened by: empathy, proximity or duration
arousal reduced by: helping directly, getting help or rejecting help-undeserving
(cost-reward matrix)
What is Piliavin’s cost-reward matrix?
helping not helping
costs effort disapproval
harm blame
embarrassment guilt
rewards praise continuing other
activities
