This type of situation is called ‘pluralistic ignorance’ and this occurs when people involved are not fully aware of all the facts of the situation.
The number of bystanders also affects whether people help or not. Latane suggests that the responsibility is shifted when many witnesses are present so more witnesses can actually mean less helping.
Darley and Latane conducted a study where participants were placed in separate rooms, and told to put on headphones.
One confederate said he suffered from seizures and later appeared to collapse. When participants thought they were the only listener, 85% helped, if there was only one bystander 62% helped, with four bystanders 31% helped.
As the number of people they believed were also in a position to help increased, people were less likely to help. This can be explained by diffusion of responsibility.
The characteristics of the person needing help may be an important factor in determining whether or not help is offered.
Piliavin et al. (1969) conducted a study where a scene was staged in the New York subway, where a man appeared to collapse as the train pulled away from the station. In one condition, the man was carrying a can; in the other condition he was carrying a bottle.
The percentage of people offering help within 10 seconds was noted. In the cane condition 95% of bystanders helped, compared to 50% in the ‘bottle’ condition.
It can be concluded that judgements about the person needing help can affect whether or not help is given.
Piliavin et al. (1981) introduced the Arousal: Cost – Reward model to explain how people in social situations weigh up the costs and benefits of behaving in a particular way. It suggests, people work through three stages when they come across a person in need:
Firstly, PSYCHOLOGICAL AROUSAL - the primary motive is the need to reduce the arousal created by seeing someone in distress.
Secondly, LABELLING THE AROUSAL – Personal distress or empathetic concern.
Thirdly, EVALUATING THE CONSEQUENCES – weighing up the costs and benefits of helping people or not (eg. Social approval, effort, potential harm).
The model is quite useful to bring all the research together but doesn’t take into account some influences such as the helper’s state of mind.
- Each cultural group has social norms. Cultures also share values, which give an indication of what kinds of behaviour are considered desirable. We all need to go through the processes of socialisation to gain the norms and values relevant to our culture. If we behave differently from the prescribed cultural norms, there are likely to be negative consequences, such as the disapproval of others.
Hsu (1971) proposed that cultures can be divided into two groups individualist and collectivist. Individualist cultures such as the USA and other western cultures, emphasis is placed on individual freedom. In collectivist cultures, such as China, Japan and other asian cultures, individual wishes are seen as less important than the well- being of the group.
According to Miler and Bershoff (1998) the Indians were just as likely to help someone they didn’t like as someone they did like compared to the Americans who were less likely to help someone they didn’t like.
Eisenberg and Mussen (1989) carried out across – cultural research into children’s pro – social behaviour. The kind of behaviours studied included kindness, consideration for others and co – operation.
The results showed, North American children were in general less kind than children who had grown up in Mexican villages.
It can be concluded that children reared within a collectivist culture tend to show more social behaviour than those reared in an individualist culture.
People in collectivist societies are likely to be more helpful than those in individualist societies, though this is not always the case. This distinction may be too broad to account for the cultural differences which have been found in helping behaviour.
People are brought up differently in different cultures. They have different values that comply to the ‘norm’ of that particular culture, eg. Women need ‘support’ and ‘help’ and men are ‘strong’ and ‘independent’. In other cultures women are expected to work for a living. In more European cultures women are expected to stay at home and look after the children.
The expectations of a particular culture will influence whether a person helps another or not and whether they seek help.
