Piliavin et al, 1969 Flashcards
Bystander
anyone who is present at an incident but not directly involved
Bystander effect
behavior of bystanders who don’t assist those who need help in an emergency
Diffusion of responsibility
When groups of people witness an emergency together, but they only assume a fraction of responsibility for helping
Background of the study
- famous murder in New York, 1964
- woman was stalked by a man
- stabbed 3 separate times
- 38 ppl saw, no one helped
What kind of study is this?
Field experiment
What is this study investigating?
to investigate if helping behavior was affected by:
- type of victim
- race of victim
- modelling effect
- size of group
Sample
- 4450 males and females
- commuters travelling in a tube
- racial mix: 45% black, 55% white
- opportunity sample
- 8 ppl in critical area
- 43 ppl in each carriage
- journey: 7 1/2 mins (unsolicited participants)
- time: weekdays 11am-3pm
Field situation
- non-stop ride from 59th 125th street
- no one was allowed to leave so that there was no change when an emergency takes place
Procedure
- 4 Columbia General Studies students
- 2 males, 2 fems - female confederates took seats outside critical are
- male model + victim standing - data collected 103 trials
- victim stood next to pole in critical area
- victim staggered forward, collapsed 70 sec after train
- until receiving help, victim remained on floor
- if victim got no help by the time train stopped, model helped him on feet
- at stop, team left and waited separately until other riders left the station
- proceeds to another platform to board train going in opposite direction for next trial
- 6-8 trials in given day
- all trials in same “victim condition”
- 59th - 125th station
Victims
- 4 victims = 3 white, 1 black
- males
- age: 26-35
- all identically dressed in Ein Sower jackets, old slacks, no tie
-38 trial victims - smelled of liquor and carried liquor bottle wrapped in BPB
- 65 trials, sober & carried black cane
- standardized procedure, victims dressed + behaved identically on 2 conditions
Models
- 4 white males
- ages: 24-29
- no identical clothing
- wore formal attire
4 model conditions
1. critical area (early)
- model stood in critical area
- waited until 4th passing station to assist victim
- 70 secs after collapse
- Critical area (late)
- model stood in critical area
- waited until passing 6th station to assist victim
- 150 secs after collapse
- Adjacent area (early)
- model stood in middle of car in area adjacent to critical area
- waited until passing 4th station
- Adjacent area (late)
- waited until passing 6th station
- 150 secs
Controls in study
- dressing the same
- behaving the same
- smelling of alcohol
- having black cane in 65 trials
Observers
Observer 1:
- noted race, sex, location of every rider seated/standing in critical area
- counted total no. of individuals in car
- counted total no. of individuals who came to victim’s assistance
- recorded race, sex, location of every helper
Observer 2:
- coded race, sex, location of all people in adjacent area
- recorded latency of first helper’s arrival after victim had fallen and on appropriate trials
- recorded latency of first helper’s arrival after programmed model arrived
Both observers:
- recorded comments spontaneously by nearby passengers
- attempt to elicit comments from rider sitting next to them
(qualitative data)