8.3 How the Social Context Influences Helping
[Production: Please remove red, strikethrough text from the OER.]
Learning Objectives
Review Bibb Latané and John Darley’s model of helping behavior and indicate the social psychological variables that influence each stage.
Although emotional responses such as guilt, personal distress, and empathy are important determinants of altruism, it is the social situation itself—the people around us when we are deciding whether or not to help—that has perhaps the most important influence on whether and when we help.
Consider the unusual case of the killing of 28-year-old Katherine “Kitty” Genovese in New York City at about 3:00 a.m. on March 13, 1964. Her attacker, Winston Moseley, stabbed and sexually assaulted her within a few yards of her apartment building in the borough of Queens. During the struggle with her assailant, Kitty screamed, “Oh my God! He stabbed me! Please help me!” But no one responded. The struggle continued; Kitty broke free from Moseley, but he caught her again, stabbed her several more times, and eventually killed her.
The murder of Kitty Genovese shocked the nation, in large part because of the (often inaccurate) reporting of it. Stories about the killing in the New York Times and other papers indicated that as many as 38 people had overheard the struggle and killing, that none of them had bothered to intervene, and that only one person had even called the police, long after Genovese was dead.
Although these stories about the lack of concern by people in New York City proved to be false (Manning, Levine, & Collins, 2007), they nevertheless led many people to think about the variables that might lead people to help or, alternatively, to be insensitive to the needs of others. Was this an instance of the uncaring and selfish nature of human beings? Or was there something about this particular social situation that was critical? It turns out, contrary to most people’s expectations, that having many people around during an emergency can in fact be the opposite of helpful—it can reduce the likelihood that anyone at all will help. [Production: Please add the following sentence and video to the OER:] In the following video, you will see this effect in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac&t=1s
The Bystander Effect (duration 3:35)
(Cool Psychologist, 2009)
[Production: Please add the following activity.]
Activity 2: Reflecting on Helping
*This section of the open course textbook is designed to support PSYC 3271, and the activity numbering corresponds to Unit 3.
Introduction
In this activity, you will be reflecting on your own experiences in emergency situations. You could be recalling a time when you actively helped someone in an emergency or a time when you were merely an observer in an emergency situation, whichever you prefer. The key is that you will be exploring the reasons why you did or did not act in that specific situation. Record your responses to each question in your course notes for future reference.
Instructions
Think about a time when you encountered an emergency situation in which someone other than you needed help.
Reflect on what you did in that situation: Did you administer first aid? Did you call for help? Were you just one member of the crowd? Etc.
If you helped, why did you help?
Did you quickly recognize that it was an emergency?
Did you feel responsible?
Did you know you could help?
If you didn’t help, what prevented you from intervening?
Did you not notice the event at first?
Did it not seem serious?
Were there other people around already that you thought could help?
Did you not feel qualified to intervene?
In the following section, we will be exploring Latané and Darley’s (1968) Model of Helping. In this model, the authors explain how there are multiple steps in the process of deciding to help in an emergency. After you learn about the model, come back to your answers from this activity and try to identify how your answers line up with the different stages in the model.
[Production: end of activity]
