pilliavin's subway study Flashcards
what is bystander behaviour?
when the presence of others reduces the likelihood that help will be offered
what is prosocial behaviour
behaviour beneficial to other people that may not help the helper
what did piliavin aim to do
to investigate bystander behaviour in a natural setting
to see if different aspects of the victim would affect if help was offered
what was the method used
4 researchers boarded a new york subway one member played the victim (always male)
the victim stood next to a pole on a critical section of the subway
after 70 seconds the victim collapsed and stayed until help was offered
in 38 trials the victim appeared drunk and in 65 they were carrying a cane (disabled condition)
2 observers noted down behaviour and if no help was given after 70-150 seconds a model stepped in to help
what were the results
the person using the cane was helped almost all of the time and the drunk person was helped half of the time.
87% of disabled victims were helped in the first 70 seconds and only 17% of drunk people were helped
people were more likely to help if there was a bigger group on the subway
what was the conclusion made
certain characteristics affect if the person is helped if they are ‘more deserving’ they are more likely to be helped
amount of people did not influence whether help was given
what is a strength of this study PEE
participants are unaware they’re being watched
this was a field experiment done on a subway, participants were not aware they were being observed therefore their reactions were natural and closer to real life
this is important because it shows the study has high ecological validity
what is a weakness of this study PEE
used an urban sample
it was most likely that people on that subway lived in the city. this meant that people would have been used to these situations and seeing beggars or people falling over so they were more likely to ignore it
this is important as it shows results cannot be generalised
