Piliavian

PILIAVIN, RODIN & PILIAVIN (1969) –

GOOD SAMARITANISM: AN UNDERGROUND PHENEMONON?

• Bystander behaviour – the reactions of those who witness an emergency.

• Diffusion of responsibility – this occurs in a crowd setting when people believe that the responsibility for intervention is shared between everyone present – and this is less weighted on the individual themselves.

• Pluralistic ignorance – this is when someone might need help and we look around us for clues as to the importance of the event. If no one else is acting then we are less likely to act.

• Altruism – when you do something for someone else without gaining anything for yourself

Aim:

The aim of the study was to investigate factors affecting helping behaviour

- Responsibility of the victim – Researcher predicted that the drunk person would receive less help than the blind person.

- Effect of size of group – the more people present the less help that would be given.

- Race of victim – people would be more likely to help people the same race as them.

- Effect of modelling – if somebody helps more people will.

• It was a Field Experiment

• An experiment conducted in a more natural environment (in the field). As with the laboratory experiment the IV is still manipulated by the researcher.

• Participants are often not aware they are participating in an experiment.

Independent Variable:

- The type of victim (drunk or ill)

- The race of the victim (black or white)

- The presence of a model (early or late)

- The number of bystanders present (varied naturally)

Dependent Variable:

- The time taken for the first passenger to offer help

- The total number of passengers who helped

- The gender, race and location of every helper

- The time taken for the first passenger to offer help after the model had assisted

Sample:

- 4450 men and women

- 45% black and 55% white passengers

• Two trains were selected. The trains travelled through Harlem to the Bronx in New York.

• The...