SOCIAL: Pillavin Flashcards
what was the aim?
to investigate bystander behavior in participants natural setting
to investigate if helping behavior is affected by 4 variables:
type of victim
race of victim
behavior of a model
size of group of bystanders
what were the hypotheses?
an individual would more likely help someone of the same race than a different race
help would be offered to an ‘ill’ victim quicker and more often than a ‘drunk’ victim
what was the sample?
estimate of 4450 passengers in total avg 43 per carriage 8.5 in critical area 45% black 55% white
what was the research method and design?
independent measures design
field experiment
what was the independent variable?
type of victim: ill or drunk
race of victim: black or white
behavior of bystander: close or distant, early or late
size of the group of bystanders: naturally occurring
what was the dependent variable?
level of bystander helping
quantitative:
time taken for first passenger to help
total number of helpers and their race, gender and location
qualitative: verbal remarks
who were the experimenters?
4 male victims (3 white and 1 black)
4 models (all white)
8 female observers
they split into 4 teams of:
1 victim
1 model
2 observers
what was the procedure?
each trial, the two female and two male students would board the train using different doors
the female confederates would sit in the adjacent area
the male victim stood at pole in critical area
the model remained standing
each trial used the same route: 7.5 minute gap between stations
70 seconds into the journey, victim would stagger forward and collapse and remained lying on the floor facing upwards
if received no help, model would help him at the stop
the victim was played by different males during the study
he dressed in casual clothes
38/103 trials victim smelt like alcohol and was holding an alcohol bottle in a paper bag
65/103 trials victim was sober and carried a black cane
what were the models conditions?
critical/early: stood in critical area and helped after 70 seconds
critical/late: stood in critical area and helped after 150 seconds
adjacent/early: stood in adjacent area and helped after 70 seconds
adjacent/late: stood in adjacent area and helped after 150 seconds
what were the results?
majority of helpers were male
nearly 80% of victims were spontaneously helped
in around 60% of cases, more than 1 person helped
cane victim was more likely to be helped
cane helped = 62/65 trials
drunk helped = 18/38 trials
spontaneous help was mostly in cane conditions
both races were equally likely to be helped
drunk condition participants were more likely to help their own race
drunk condition, black victim was least helped overall
the more passengers, the higher rate of helping
in 20% of trials, passengers moved away from critical area
more comments were made in trials with no help
more comments were made in drunk conditions
what were the conclusions?
in a natural setting, many people are more likely to help
men are more likely to help more than women
cane condition was helped more than drunk condition
people are more likely to help people of their own race
the longer the emergency, the less likely anyone would help
