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Piliavin Subway Study

It is rational to think that every human would help another person in need of such help. Whether a schoolmate needs a pen, your mum may need help carrying in something heavy from the garden, or an older person in the park may need help because they feel unwell, there is a common understanding that humans will most likely help…

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Piliavin Subway Study

Piliavin Subway Study
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It is rational to think that every human would help another person in need of such help. Whether a schoolmate needs a pen, your mum may need help carrying in something heavy from the garden, or an older person in the park may need help because they feel unwell, there is a common understanding that humans will most likely help others. But would you help someone else in every situation, regardless of the other person's condition? This phenomenon was investigated in 1969 by Piliavin in a Subway Study, and we will review it in this explanation.

  • This explanation offers an overview of Piliavin's (1969) study's background and aim.
  • Moving on from this, the explanation assesses the strengths, weaknesses and ethical issues of Piliavin's (1969) study.
  • The inclusion of controls in Piliavin' (1969() study is discussed, together with the final conclusion of the study.

What was the Piliavin et al. (1969) Study?

This research came about after 28-year-old Kitty Genevese was stabbed to death outside her apartment building in 1964. After the murder, The New York Times reported that 38 witnesses didn’t call the police. The news report has been called into question since then, as it turns out no one saw the whole event from start to finish, and not everyone who heard her realised it was a cry for help. Some thought it was lovers or drunken quarrels.

There are also disputes as to how many witnesses there were. However, the idea that so many people witnessed the crime yet still failed to help shocked many and led psychologists to investigate why people don’t immediately jump to the rescue when they hear about or see a crime.

They put two theories forth to try and explain this phenomenon: ‘the bystander effect’ and ‘diffusion of responsibility’.

The bystander effect (Darley and Latané, 1968) suggests that people are less likely to help someone with other people around.

Diffusion of responsibility: If there are several bystanders, each bystander feels their responsibility decreases.

Piliavin et al. (1969) conducted a field experiment investigating these factors. Why would someone be less likely to help someone with other people around?

The reasons are:

  • If no one else is helping, the individual believes the situation is not an emergency.

  • They fear others will unfavourably judge them.

  • Diffusion of responsibility.

Piliavin Study Aim

The Piliavin study investigated whether subway passengers would be more likely to help someone drunk or ill and white or black. They also investigated whether the presence of a helper would influence others to help too. The researchers were interested in the subway passengers’ speed, response frequency, and the effect of race.

Conformity, Prosocial behaviour and conformism, Piliavin Subway Study, Picture of the New York Subway, StudySmarterFig. 1: Picture of the subway in New York

Piliavin Study Procedure

Piliavin et al. conducted the study on a seven-and-a-half-minute journey between two New York City subway stations. The subway did not stop at stations in between. There were 103 trials conducted in total. In total, there were about 4450 participants.

Four researchers (two male and two female) got on the subway for each trial. The female researchers sat down and took notes. One male researcher played the ‘victim’ while the other male was a ‘helper’. Four males played the victim role (three white and one black). In 38 trials, the victim smelled alcohol and carried alcohol in a brown bag (drunk condition). In 65 trials, the victim was sober and carried a cane (ill condition). All the victim males took part in both conditions.

The study was set up so that the victim collapsed after the subway passed the first station, which took approximately 70 seconds. There were then two conditions:

  • ‘No help’ condition: The helper did nothing to help the victim until the train arrived at the destination station. The helper then helped the victim to his feet.
  • ‘Help’ condition: The helper assisted the victim. There were four different situations in the ‘help’ condition depending on two factors. One of the factors was the distance between the helper and the victim. Two possible options were possible: critical area (this is, the victim and the helper were a couple of meters away) and adjacent area (the victim and the helper were around 4-5 meters away). The second factor was the speed with which help was provided. In this way, there was the early condition (help was provided 70ms after collapse) and late condition (help was provided 150ms after collapse).

The four help conditions were the following:

  • Critical area – early: The helper stood in the critical area and waited until after the train passed the fourth station to help the victim, about 70 seconds after the victim collapsed.
  • Critical area – late: The helper stood in the critical area and waited until after the train passed the sixth station to help the victim, about 150 seconds after the victim collapsed.
  • Adjacent area – early: The helper stood a little further away, adjacent to the critical area. He waited until after the train passed the fourth station to help the victim.
  • Adjacent area – late: The helper stood in the adjacent area and waited until after the train passed the sixth station before helping the victim.

The researcher sitting down and taking notes did not only take quantitative data such as the number of people helping and the number of seconds needed for help to be provided. Qualitative data was also gathered, which included the words and comments that the participants expressed throughout the experiment.

Piliavin Study Controls

The study presented a number of control variables:

  • The victims all dressed the same and behaved the same way, so all participants were exposed to the same standardised behaviour.
  • The scenario took place between the same two subway stations in New York City.
  • Victims were always male

Results

  • Ill condition: The victim received help before the helper assisted in all but 3 of the trials (62 out of 65 trials).
  • Drunk condition: the victim received help in half of the trials (19 out of 38 trials).

An ill person is more like to receive help than a drunk person. In both conditions, men were more likely to help than women. In the ill condition, there was no difference in the amount of help given to black and white males. In the drunk condition, the victim was more likely to receive help from those of his ethnicity.

Across the trials, in 60% of cases, the help received was from more than one person. After one person approached to help, the results found that two, three, or even more people quickly followed. However, the longer the victim did not receive help, the people were more likely to move away from the critical area or justify why they did not help.

Piliavin Conclusions

The study found that more help was given and more quickly than ‘the bystander effect’ and ‘diffusion of responsibility’ would have suggested. Researchers observed no real ‘diffusion of responsibility’. The results could be due to the location where the passengers were in a subway, and there was no way for them to ‘escape’ or run away from the emergency, resulting in a higher level of assistance.

Piliavin et al. proposed a model that when someone witnesses an emergency, it prompts an emotional response, and they decide whether they help by a cost-reward analysis. Their motivation to help is to get rid of the unpleasant emotions while witnessing the emergency.

Piliavin Strengths and Weaknesses

Here we present the strengths and weaknesses of the Piliavin Subway Study.

Strengths

  • As this was a field experiment, the participants did not know they were part of a study, so they had no demand characteristics.

  • There was a large sample size of 4550 participants, so the study results are generalisable.

Weaknesses

  • Hard to control extraneous variables in field experiments; for instance, some passengers could have been present at more than one trial.

Piliavin Study: Ethical issues

The study presents, however, a number of ethical issues which would not allow this study to be conducted these days.

As this was a field experiment, the participants could not consent before being in the study. Also, it was not possible to withdraw from the study. It may have been stressful for the participants to see someone collapse. If the participant did not help at the time, later they might have felt guilty for their inaction.

And further, deception was used in the research study. Victims were not truly victims and this may have evoked negative feelings in participants after they found out.

Is Piliavin's Study Reliable?

The reliability of the study can be questioned at a number of different levels.

Due to methodological problems, there were more cane trials than drink trials, making the conditions unequal, which may have influenced the analysis.

Since it used the observational methodology, the sample happened to be the people that were in the underground that day at that time. However, the characteristics of these people remain unknown, and therefore, no confound bias can be explored.

The participants in the study and all the victims were males, which does not allow results to be generalised to the female population.

Piliavin Subway Study - Key takeaways

    • Two theories that explain why people don’t help when they witness a crime are ‘the bystander effect’ and ‘diffusion of responsibility.
    • Diffusion of responsibility states that if there are several bystanders, each bystander feels their responsibility decreases.
    • Piliavin et al. (1969) conducted a field study to investigate these effects. The study aimed to determine whether subway passengers would be more likely to help someone drunk or ill and white or black. They also wanted to know if the presence of a helper would influence others to help too.
    • They found that more help was given and more quickly than ‘the bystander effect’ and ‘diffusion of responsibility would have suggested.

Frequently Asked Questions about Piliavin Subway Study

Piliavin et al. (1969) conducted a field study to investigate ‘the bystander effect’ and ‘diffusion of responsibility’. They conducted a study on a seven-and-a-half-minute subway journey where either an ill or drunk man collapsed (played by a male researcher). Piliavin et al. were interested in the speed, frequency and the effect of race of people had on others coming to his assistance. 

The study has some ethical issues; as this was a field experiment, the participants could not consent before being in the study. Also, it was not possible to withdraw from the study. It may have been stressful for the participants to see someone collapse. If the participant did not help at the time, later they might have felt guilty for their inaction. 

Two female researchers sat in the carriage, spoke to the person next to them after the incident, and took notes of what the people around them said. Many women commented, ‘It’s for men to help him’ or ‘I wish I could help him – I’m not strong enough.’

The Piliavin study is reliable as there was a standardised procedure for each trial, so the participants all experienced the same thing.

The independent variables were the type of victim (ill or drunk), the race of the victim (black or white) and the influence of a helper or not. 

Final Piliavin Subway Study Quiz

Piliavin Subway Study Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

What is the bystander effect?

Show answer

Answer

The bystander effect suggests that people are less likely to help someone with other people around.

Show question

Question

Why might the bystander effect occur?

Show answer

Answer

  • If no one else is helping, the individual believes the situation is not an emergency.
  • They fear others will unfavourably judge them.
  • Diffusion of responsibility.

Show question

Question

What is the diffusion of responsibility?

Show answer

Answer

If there are several bystanders, each bystander feels their responsibility decreases.

Show question

Question

What was the aim of Piliavin et al. (1969) study?

Show answer

Answer

The aim was to investigate whether subway passengers would be more likely to help someone drunk or ill and white or black. They also investigated whether the presence of a helper would influence others to help too.

Show question

Question

How many trials in total were conducted?

Show answer

Answer

103 trials.

Show question

Question

Around how many participants in total took part in the experiment?


Show answer

Answer

Around 4450 participants.

Show question

Question

What were the two conditions of the study?

Show answer

Answer

The ‘no help’ condition and the ‘help’ condition

Show question

Question

What were the study controls?


Show answer

Answer

  • The victims all dressed the same and behaved the same way, so all participants were exposed to the same standardised behaviour.
  • The scenario took place between the same two subway stations in New York City.
  • Victims were always male.

Show question

Question

Who did the study find is more likely to receive help, an ill or a drunk person?

Show answer

Answer

An ill person.

Show question

Question

In both conditions, who were more likely to help, men or women?

Show answer

Answer

Men.

Show question

Question

In how many trials did people come to an ill person’s assistance before the helper?

Show answer

Answer

In 62 out of 65 trials.

Show question

Question

In how many trials did people come to a drunk person’s assistance before the helper?

Show answer

Answer

In 19 out of 38 trials.

Show question

Question

In what percentage of trials did more than one person come to the victim’s assistance?

Show answer

Answer

In 60% of the trials.

Show question

Question

What did Piliavin et al. (1969) conclude from the study?

Show answer

Answer

They found that more help was given and more quickly than ‘the bystander effect’ and ‘diffusion of responsibility’ would have suggested. The results could be due to the location where the passengers were in a subway, and there was no way for them to ‘escape’ or run away from the emergency, resulting in a higher level of assistance.

Show question

Question

What was Piliavin et al. (1969) model of why someone helps another?

Show answer

Answer

When someone witnesses an emergency, it prompts an emotional response, and they decide whether they help by a cost-reward analysis. Their motivation to help is to get rid of the unpleasant emotions while witnessing the emergency.

Show question

Question

What were the ethical considerations of the study?

Show answer

Answer

As this was a field experiment, the participants could not consent before being in the study. Also, it was not possible to withdraw from the study. It may have been stressful for the participants to see someone collapse. If the participant did not help at the time, later they might have felt guilty for their inaction.

Show question

Question

How did the victim look like during the drunk condition of the Piliavin study?

Show answer

Answer

The victim smelled alcohol and carried alcohol in a brown bag.

Show question

Question

How did the victim look like during the ill condition of the Piliavin study?

Show answer

Answer

The victim was sober and carried a cane.

Show question

Question

How did the researchers categorise the behaviours of helpers?

Show answer

Answer

Helper behaviour was categorised in 4 different categories:

  • helper from a critical area that acted early.
  • helper from a critical area that acted late.
  • helper from an adjacent area that acted early.
  • helper from an adjacent area that acted late.

Show question

Question

Which variables were controlled in the Piliavin's study?

Show answer

Answer

Victim behaviour.

Show question

Question

In the drunk condition, the victim received help in ________ .

Show answer

Answer

most cases.

Show question

Question

In the ill condition, white males received help more often than black males.

Show answer

Answer

False.

Show question

Question

In most cases, it was just one person that was helping the victim/

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Answer

True.

Show question

Question

According to the Piliavin's model, bystander behaviour can be explained with

Show answer

Answer

A cost-benefit analysis.

Show question

Question

What is one weakness of the Piliavin study?

Show answer

Answer

It is hard to control extraneous variables in field experiments; for instance, some passengers could have been present at more than one trial.  


Show question

Question

Was Piliavin's study affected by demand characteristics?

Show answer

Answer

No.

Show question

Question

When does the diffusion of responsibility occur?

Show answer

Answer

It occurs in emergencies, when we are surrounded by many other people, but no one feels personally responsible to act.

Show question

Question

Who was Kitty Genovese?

Show answer

Answer

Kitty Genevese was a 28-year-old woman that was stabbed to death outside her building in 1964. After the murder, The New York Times reported 38 witnesses that didn’t call the police. 

Show question

Question

How did the murder of Kitty Genovese affect psychological investigations?

Show answer

Answer

The idea that so many people witnessed the crime and yet still failed to help led psychologists to investigate why people don’t immediately jump to the rescue when they hear or see a crime taking place.

Show question

Question

Piliavin et al. (1969) was a ________ experiment.

Show answer

Answer

laboratory.

Show question

Question

What is the bystander effect?

Show answer

Answer

The bystander effect suggests that people are less likely to help someone with other people around.

Show question

Question

Monica is diabetic and she fainted at a school corridor at a time when dozens of students were around. How might diffusion of responsibility affect others' decision to help her?

Show answer

Answer

Since there are many people around, it's possible that the sense of individual responsibility among bystanders is low and that no one will help her.

Show question

Question

If Monica fainted in a place where there was only one person around, her chance to get help would _______ .

Show answer

Answer

increase.

Show question

Question

What was the aim of the Piliavin et al. (1969) Subway Study?

Show answer

Answer

The aim of the Piliavin study was to investigate whether subway passengers would be more likely to help someone drunk or ill and white or black. They also investigated whether the presence of a helper would influence others to help too. 

Show question

Question

What variables were measured in the Piliavin et al. (1969) Subway Study?

Show answer

Answer

The researchers measured the subway passengers’ speed and response frequency in different conditions.

Show question

Question

Where was the Piliavin et al. (1969) Subway Study conducted?

Show answer

Answer

Piliavin et al. conducted the study on a seven-and-a-half-minute journey between two New York City subway stations. The subway did not stop at stations in between.

Show question

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