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Piliavin Et Al
Piliavin Et Al
Asim Masood
asimmm196@gmail.com
+923002626209
A young woman by the name of Kitty
Genovese was attacked late at night by a
black man near her apartment compound
38 people witnessed this incident but no one
took any immediate action
When interviewed later by police, most of
the witnesses reported saying they assumed
someone else might have already taken
action and called the police
This lead to the theory of diffusion of
responsibility being developed which
suggests that in an emergency situation,
when there is a large number of people
present, each person will diffuse or pass
their responsibility of helping on to one
another, and hence, there is a less likely
chance for the victim to receive immediate
help
Conversely, the smaller the group size, the
greater the chance of help being received
Two researchers by the name of Darley and
Latane decided to test the diffusion of
responsibility hypothesis in a lab
environment
They conducted two studies in controlled
environments and proved the theory of the
diffusion of responsibility
However, they did not test the theory in an
ecologically valid or natural setting
Diffusion of responsibility/bystander
behavior/bystander helping/bystander
apathy: in an emergency situation, when
there is a large number of people present,
each person will diffuse or pass their
responsibility of helping on to one another,
and hence, there is a less likely chance for
the victim to receive immediate help
Conversely, the smaller the group size, the
greater the chance of help being received
Piliavinwanted to test the diffusion of
responsibility hypothesis in the natural
setting of the New York Subway
IV:
The condition of the victim –
Drunk Condition (operationalized by having the victim
hold a brown paper bag with an alcohol bottle, and
smelling of alcohol himself)
Ill/Cane Condition (operationalized by having the victim
pretend to be ill and hold a black colour cane)
IV (continued):
The race of the victim –
Black
White
Modeling Conditions (operationalized by having the
model stand in either the critical or adjacent area
and help after either 70 or 150 seconds) –
Critical Early
Critical Late
Adjacent Early
Adjacent Late
DV:Helping Behaviour (operationalized by
recording the time taken and number of people
to help)