Darley, J. M., and Batson, C.D., "From Jerusalem to Jericho": A study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping Behavior". JPSP, 1973, 27, 100-108. This is the famous seminary experiment about the Good Samaritans. Previous studies have failed to find a link between personality traits and the likelihood of helping others in an emergency. However, changes in the # of people present did have a big effect on behavior. Show
The parable of the Good Samaritan is an interesting example. What possessed the priest and the Levite to pass by the injured man by the side of the road? Possibly they were in a hurry and were filled with busy, important thoughts. Maybe the Samaritan was in less of a hurry. Or maybe the virtues that the religious leaders espoused were not something they followed themselves (unlike the Samaritan). The researchers had three hypotheses: Procedure They varied the amount of urgency they told the subjects before sending them to the other building, and the task they would do when they got there. One task was to prepare a talk about seminary jobs, and the other about the story of the Good Samaritan. In one condition they told the subject they were late for the next task, in the other they said they had a few minutes but they should head on over anyway. In an alleyway they passed a man sitting slumped in doorway, who moaned and coughed twice as they walked by. They set up a scale of helping: After arrival at the 2nd research site, they had the subject give the talk and then answer a helping behavior questionnaire. Results Overall 40% offered some help to the victim. In low hurry situations, 63% helped, medium hurry 45% and high hurry 10%. For helping-relevant message 53%, task relevant message 29%. There was no correlation between "religious types" and helping behavior. The only variable that showed some effect was "relgion as a quest". Of the people who helped, those who saw religion as a quest were less likely to offer substantial help than those who scored low on this statement. But later analysis revealed this may not be caused be real religious differences. Conclusions Many subjects who did not stop did appear aroused and anxious when the arrived at the second site. They were in a conflict between helping the victim and meeting the needs of the experimenter. Conflict rather than callousness can explain the failure to stop. This is a preview. Log in to get access Abstract Three studies of everyday helping behavior are described. Study I reveals that most everyday helping occurs between friends, family members, and other familiar individuals; providing assistance to strangers is less common. Furthermore, much of the help given to familiar others is planned, whereas help given to strangers is almost always spontaneous. Study 2 describes the construction of an instrument to measure self-reports of helping. A multidimensional scaling analysis reveals three regions of helping: planned formal, planned informal, and spontaneous. Study 3 finds that characteristics of individuals, in general, are related more strongly to planned forms of helping than to spontaneous forms of helping. Social network variables also are found to be better predictors of self-reported helping behavior than are traditional personality variables. Journal Information Social Psychology Quarterly (SPQ) publishes theoretical and empirical papers on the link between the individual and society, including the study of the relations of individuals to one another, as well as to groups, collectivities and institutions. It also includes the study of intra-individual processes insofar as they substantially influence or are influenced by social structure and process. SPQ is genuinely interdisciplinary, publishing works by both sociologists and psychologists. Published quarterly in March, June, September and December. Publisher Information American Sociological Association Mission Statement: Serving Sociologists in Their Work Advancing Sociology as a Science and Profession Promoting the Contributions and Use of Sociology to Society The American Sociological Association (ASA), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to advancing sociology as a scientific discipline and profession serving the public good. With over 13,200 members, ASA encompasses sociologists who are faculty members at colleges and universities, researchers, practitioners, and students. About 20 percent of the members work in government, business, or non-profit organizations. As the national organization for sociologists, the American Sociological Association, through its Executive Office, is well positioned to provide a unique set of services to its members and to promote the vitality, visibility, and diversity of the discipline. Working at the national and international levels, the Association aims to articulate policy and impleme nt programs likely to have the broadest possible impact for sociology now and in the future. Rights & Usage This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Which theory specifically predicts that we will be more helpful to our relatives than to others?According to inclusive fitness theory, people are more willing to help those they are genetically related to because relatives share a kin altruism gene and are able to pass it along. We tested this theory by examining the effect of reproductive potential on altruism.
Which theory specifically predicts that we will be more altruistic toward our relatives than toward close friends?INTRODUCTION. Hamilton's rule predicts that individuals should be more likely to altruistically help closer kin and likewise, be more likely to receive help from closer kin ( Hamilton 1964 ).
Which of the following statements is true about gender differences in helping behavior?Which of the following is a true statement about differences in the helping behavior of men and women? Men are more likely to offer support that is direct, heroic, or otherwise consistent with the masculine gender role.
What is one of the reasons people assist each other in times of need?They argue that people help each other because they want to gain as much as possible while losing as little as possible. The social responsibility norm also explains helping behavior. The social responsibility norm is a societal rule that tells people they should help others who need help even if doing so is costly.
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