Piliavin et al. (1969)

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

Since the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 (a woman stabbed to death over a period of 30 minutes in front of a reported 38 unresponsive witnesses), many social psychologists have studied the concept of good Samaritanism.

Question 2

Sample

Answer 2

Participants were about 4,450 men and women who used the New York subway on weekdays between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm between April 15 and June 26, 1968.

About 45% were black, 55% white.

Question 3

Procedure

Answer 3

• The study was a field experiment. The field situation was the A and D trains of the 8th Avenue New York Subway between 59th Street and 125 Street. The journeys lasted about 71⁄2 minutes.
• The experiment had four independent variables (IVs): 1. Type of victim (drunk or carrying a cane). 2. Race of victim (black or white). 3. Effect of a model (after 70 or 150 seconds, from the critical or adjacent area), or no model at all. 4. Size of the witnessing group (a naturally occurring independent variable).
• The dependent variables (DVs) - recorded by two female observers seated in the adjacent area - were: 1. Frequency of help. 2. Speed of help. 3. Race of helper. 4. Sex of helper. 5. Movement out of critical area. 6. Verbal comments by bystanders.

Question 4

Findings

Answer 4

1. An individual who appears ill is more likely to receive help than one who appears drunk, e.g. the cane victim received spontaneous help 95% of the time, and the drunk victim only 50% of the time, and help was offered faster to the cane victim (a median of 5 seconds compared to 109 seconds).
2. Men are more likely than women to help a male victim, e.g. 90% of the first helpers were male.
3. There was a slight tendency for same race helping especially in the drunk condition.
4. No diffusion of responsibility was found, in fact response times were faster with larger groups than smaller, e.g. in 60% of trials help was provided by 2 or more helpers.