Helping Behavior, Bystanders, and
Compliance Gaining
the bystander effect
• the case of Kitty Genovese
• in general, groups are less likely
to lend assistance in an
emergency than an individual
• the presence of other people
tends to inhibit helping behavior
• the larger the crowd, the less
likely people are to help
• apathy and indifference are not
the main reasons bystanders
fail to act
• Pluralistic ignorance: people
wait for someone else to act who
knows what to do
• Diffusion of responsibility: the
personal responsibility of each
individual is reduced.
• people assume someone else has
called for help or will call for
help
• Social proof: others’ inaction
implies the situation is not that
serious
• Intervention inertia: easier to do
nothing than something
bystander behavior
• I don’t want to look stupid.
•
When a waiting room filled with smoke,
people did nothing if they saw others
doing nothing (Latane & Darley, 1968)
• I don’t want to get involved
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Bystanders failed to act when a person
feigned having an asthma attack or a
seizure (Harris & Robinson, 1973;
Schwartz & Clausen, 1970).
• Danger in numbers
•
The more strangers present, the less
likely anyone will be to help
when do bystanders help?
• friends more likely to help that
strangers
• sense of “we”ness; some sense of
connectedness
• in-group members, common
category members are more
likely to help
• role expectations; female/male,
teacher student, customer/cashier
• fear of negative evaluation
• when people are singled out as
individuals
helping behavior and
attractiveness
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Juhnke et al. (2001) Effects of
attractiveness and nature of the request
on helping behavior
Shoppers were approached when entering
or leaving a supermarket or department
store. Confederates asked the shoppers
for directions.
Independent variable 1: attire
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Independent variable 2: status of
destination
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Well-dressed: clean, conservative clothes,
clean shaven
Poorly dressed: simulated tattoos,
cigarettes rolled in sleeves, dirty t-shirt,
torn dirty trousers, uncombed hair
Exclusive tennis club in nearby vicinity
Thrift shop in nearby vicinity
Dependent variable: the amount of time
spent giving directions
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Results:
The most time spent giving directions
was to poorly dressed undergrads going
to the low-status destination
Low status may have been associated
with low intelligence:
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Pity explanation: greater sensitivity to the
low status person’s plight
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e.g., Speak slowly and clearly
e.g. This person really needs a change of
clothes
Note: this finding runs counter to
previous studies that found higher status
produced greater compliance
helping behavior and status
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Solomon & Herman (1977) Status
symbols and prosocial behavior: The
effect of the victim’s car on helping
Independent variable 1: Sex of the
subject
Independent variable 2: status of the
person’s car
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Shiny Buick Electra
Dirty Ford Impala
The person was an attractive, welldressed female loading groceries into her
car.
As a subject was approached she
“dropped” her bag of groceries.
Dependent variable: Helping behavior
was defined as physically picking up the
groceries
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Results:
Male subjects were more likely to help a
high status than low status victim (73%
versus 33%)
Female subjects were only slightly more
likely to help a high status than low status
victim (27% versus 20%)
Note: Male compliance for the low status
victim was still higher than female
compliance for the high status victim
Note: Situational demands favor males
helping more than females
helping behavior and social status
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Yinon & Dovrat (1987)The reciprocityarousing potential of the requester’s
occupation, its status and the cost and urgency
of the request as determinants of helping
behavior
2 X 2 X 2 design, using a variation of the
“wrong number” technique
Independent variable 1: a male confederate
introduced himself as a:
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Independent Variable 2: urgency of the
request
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urgent versus non-urgent request
Independent variable 3: effort or cost of
compliance
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physician or accountant
fireman or gas station attendant
disconnected phone number for 30 min.
disconnected phone number for 60 min.
Dependent variable: the confederate asked
strangers if they would call his wife to tell her
he would be late
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Results:
Compliance was significantly greatest for the
physician
Compliance had less to do with status and more
to do with the potential for reciprocity
Compliance was greater for urgent requests
Compliance was greater for lower-cost, lowereffort requests
aggressiveness and status
• Doob & Gross (1968)
Motorists in luxury cars
were less likely to be
honked at than motorists in
medium to low priced cars
• Motorists sat behind the
wheel as a light turned
green
• Some motorists drove
new expensive cars
• Others drove older
ordinary cars
• The drivers behind them
waited significantly longer
before honking, based on
the status of the car.
• Would the same hold true
today?
social proof
• people look to
others to
determine
social norms
• most
pronounced in
ambiguous
social
situations
social proof and attire
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Gueguen & Pichot (2001) The influence
of status on pedestrians’ failure to follow
a road-safety rule
Independent variable: comparison of
three types of attire:
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Well-dressed
Casually dressed
Poorly-dressed
Control condition: no confederate
Confederate crossed at crosswalk against
a red light
Large sample size: 2,883 pedestrians
waiting at a crosswalk for a light to
change
Dependent Variable: violating the “do
not walk” signal and following the
confederate across the street.
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Results
Control condition: 15.6% violations of no walk
signal
Well-dressed: 54.5% violations
Casually dressed: 17.9% violations
Poorly dressed: 9.3% violations
Note: the control condition produced more
compliance than the low-status clothing
condition.
social proof and attire
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Gueguen (2003) The effect of
Shoplifter’s status on reporting a
crime: An evaluation in a natural
setting
Independent variable: a male
confederate was well-dressed or
poorly dressed
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Neatly dressed: suit &tie
Slovenly: Dirty jeans, torn
jacket, sneakers
Neutral: Clean jeans, tee-shirt
and jacket, moccasins
The confederate asked a shopper
to move aside so he could get a
CD, then pocketed the CD
Dependent variable: Whether
the subjects did nothing or told
the store security officer or a
clerk about the theft
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Results:
73% of the shoppers did
nothing. Most didn’t want to
get involved.
For the well dressed shoplifter,
only 10% of the shoppers
intervened (90% did nothing)
For the poorly dressed
shoplifter, 39% of the shoppers
intervened (60% did nothing)
For the neutrally dressed
shoplifter, 37% intervened
(63% did nothing)
Note: intervention rates for the
slovenly and neutrally dressed
shoplifters were almost the
same.
social proof and college drinking
• freshmen consume an
average of 5.26 drinks
weekly (7.39 drinks
for men, 3.86 drinks
for women)
• freshman emulate
drinking behaviors of
other students
• new social setting, living
environment
• desire to fit in