Responses to people in need Flashcards
What is the background to Piliavin
Kitty Genovese
stabbed several times walking home from work
38 people saw or heard some part of the attack and didn’t help
What is bystander apathy?
Individuals likelihood of helping decreases when passive bystanders are present
What is diffusion of responsibility?
when in a group responsibility is shared, each person feels less responsible so no one helps
What is the cost benefit model?
weighing up the rewards and costs of helping
What was Latane and Darley (1968) experiment 1?
arranged for smoke to come under the door in a waiting room
75% of participants waiting alone reported it
10% of participants waiting with confederated reported it
What was Latane and Darley (1968) experiment 2?
students recruited to take part in a conversation via intercom
each student spoke for two minutes then commented on other students
only one real person taking part other students were pre recorded
one voice had a seizure and began choking
85% on own reported
30% with others reported
why did Piliavin conduct this research?
- field experiment, real world
- wanted to investigate behaviours of bystanders following kittys murder and why 0/37 helped
- lab experiment consists of candid camera/ trigger happy style scenarios
-does altruism exist
What was Piliavins first aim?
they wanted to study bystanders behaviour outside of the lab environment where participants have a clear view of the victim
what were the four variable effecting bystander behaviour in piliavins study?
wanted to see if bystander behaviour was affected by four variables:
-victims responsibility
- victims race
- the effect of modelling helping behaviour
- size of the group
What was the design for Piliavins experiment?
field experiment
What was the field situation for Piliavins experiment?
A and D trains of the 8th avenue New York Subway between 59th street and 125 street
the journey lasted about 7.5 minutes
What were the four IV (p)
- type of victim (drunk or cane)
- race of victim (black or white)
- effect of model (after 70 or 150s in critical/adjacent area) or not
- size of witnessing group
What were the DV in Piliavins study?
Recorded by 2 females in adjacent carriage
- frequency of help
- speed of help
- race of helper
- sex of helper
- movement from critical area
- verbal comments by bystanders
What were the participants in Piliavins study?
4450 men and women
used New York Subway on weekdays between 11am-3pm
between april 15th and June 26th 1968
45% black
55% white
who were victims in Piliavins study?
3 white
1 black
all male
26-35 years
dressed alike
smelled of liquor/carried bottle
sober and carried black cane
characteristicsof the models in Piliavins study
all white
24-29 years
4 model conditions:
-critical area (early)
-critical area (late)
-adjacent area (early)
-adjacent area (late)
What did the observers measure? (p)
First: race, sex, location of every rider (seated or standed) in critical area and every helper and total number who came to victims assistance
second: race, sex, location of every rider (seated or standed) in adjacent area and latency of first helper after the victim had fallen and after the model arrived and total number who came to victims assistance
both recorded comments made by passengers and attempted to elicit comments from riders
what did the team do after the train stopped?
waited separately, changed platforms and repeated in opposite direction
How many trials were run on a given day? (p)
6-8
Why were there more cane than drunk trials?
victim didn’t like playing drunk
student strikes prevented trials to correct it
results for Ill v drunk conditions?
cane victim received spontaneous help 95% (62/65)
drunk 50% (19/38)
overall
100% cane
81% drunk
help offered more quickly to cane (median 5s compared to 109)
how did the race of victim effect help in piliavins study?
cane= black and white equally likely to be helped
drunk= black less likely to receive help
tendency for same race helping
In Piliavins study what effect did the latency of modelling have on helping behaviour?
70s more likely to help
150 seconds less likely to help
how did the Number of bystanders effect helping behaviour in Piliavins study?
no evidence of diffusion of responsibility
What percent of first helpers were male?
90%
How many passengers moved away from critical area?
21/103
What were Piliavins conclusions?
- i’ll more likely to get help than drunk
- men more likely to help male victim than women in mixed groups
- mixed race groups, more likely for same race helping
- no strong relationship between number of bystanders and speed of helping
- when escape isn’t possible helpmore likely
- cost reward analysis conducted
How can we explain the findings of Piliavins study in terms of arousal?
- arousal levels interpreted as sympathy, fear and disgust
- arousal rises closer to situation/ longer the situation
- greater arousal when bystanders can empathise
What four ways was arousal reduced by?
help directly
leave to find help
leave the area
dismiss victim as unworthy of help