Pilliavin et al 1969

Subdecks (6)

Cards (33)

  • Bystander
    People who are physically present at the scene of an event or incident but do not take an active part in helping others in need
  • Bystander apathyA term used to describe the lack of help offered in such situations
  • Diffusion of responsibility
    When an accident is observed by more than one person there might be a diffusion of responsibility Diffusion: the spreading of something more widely.
  • aim Pilvin aimed to investigate factors affecting helping behavior on a new york subway train .
    1. To investigate bystander behavior in a natural setting.
    2. To test the diffusion of responsibility hypothesis in real life setting 
    3. To examine the relationship between size of group , and frequency and latency of helping response with a face-to-face victim.
  • Dependent variable : 
    •  time taken for a passenger to help.
    •  total number of passengers who offered help.
    •  verbal remarks were also recorded.
  • Independent variable : 
    •  type of victim - either drunk or ill
    •  race of victim either black or white
    •  the model behavior - close or distant proximity and helping early or late.
    •  size of bystander group (naturally occurring)
  • Conditions
    Critical/early
    The model stood in the critical area and waited 70 seconds to help the victim.
    Critical/late
    The model stood in the critical area and waited 150 seconds to help the victim.
    Adjacent/early
    The model stood in the adjacent area and waited 70 seconds to help the victim
    Adjacent/late
    The model stood in the adjacent area and waited 150 seconds to help the victi
  • Qualitative 
    Bystander comments 
    Female
    • “I wish i could help him”
    • “I'm not strong enough “
    • “ I never saw this kind of thing before”
    • “I don't know where to look”
    • “You feel bad that you don't know what to do”
  • Strengths
    • Field experiment: (real life setting)
    • High ecological Validity: (generalize to real life)
    • Controls (length of the journey , time taken for the actor/victim to fall)
    • Quantitative Data : the time taken for a vitamin to receive help 
  • The independent groups design as different people were exposed to different models on their journey.