Levine Flashcards
(34 cards)
key theme
responses to people in need
anecdotal observation
suggests that strangers receive help in some cities in the world MORE than others.
demographic indicators
population size, rate of population change
sociocultural factors
cultural factors
most studies have focused on population size explaining differences in helping rates
tests the hypothesis that the tendency to help strangers declines as population size increases.
background
The authors were particularly interested in 3 classes of factors influencing helpfulness of people in a city towards strangers. (economic, cultural, cognitive)
3 classes of factors influencing helpfulness of people in a city towards strangers
economic,
cultural
cognitive
first class is economic factors
it has been suggested that within the USA there is a weak positive correlation between the economic wealth of a city and people’s behaviour.
On other hand, financially well-off societies require that individuals behave selfishly in order to generate wealth. (if true then this suggests people in prosperous,richer, cities may be less helpful)
second class factor is cultural
Triandis (1995) suggested a distinction between collectivist societies and individualistic societies (independent). Collectivist societies are more concerned with welfare of others, more helpful.
On other hand, collectivist societies tend to be mostly concerned with other members of same community rather than strangers.
A second cultural factor is SIMPATIA
Simpatia
A cultural value of concern for others. Simpatia orientated societies may be particularly helpful towards strangers.
Third class of factor identified by Levine et al is cognitive
Milgram (1970) suggested the rapid pace of modern city life results in sensory overload. To cope with this, city-dwellers filter out non-essential info so they do not notice when someone needs help.
There was little evidence for or against this prior to this study.
cross cultural research is needed for…
a richer understanding of the personality of cities.
collectivist societies
include many in far east and Africa. Cultural values of collectivist societies centre on obligations to a group rather than to the self, individuals are obliged to put needs of family/community ahead of their own. Characteristics such as being; self sacrificing, dependable, generous, helpful.
individualistic societies
such as Britain, USA and (to a varying extent) western european countries. These place more emphasis on the needs of an individual over the needs of a group. People are considered ‘goof’ if they’re; strong, self-reliant, assertive and independent.
Simpatia definition
A cultural value particularly associated with spanish and latin american societies. It is defined by a concern for the well being of others, with an obligation to be friendly, polite & helpful.
Aim
to investigate how the ‘personality’ of a city may be related to helping behaviour in non-emergency situations by looking at a broader range of cities than previously studied.
3 specific aims were investigated:
1- To see if the tendency of people within a city to offer non-emergency help to strangers was stable across different situations.
2- To see if helping of strangers varies across cultures.
3- To identify the characteristics of those communities in which strangers are more or less likely to be helped.
Method
Quasi experiment. (IV , the people in each city, was naturally occuring)
Dependent variable
helping rate calculated for each of the 23 individual cities. It was also a cross cultural study, comparing people from different cultures.
how many cities?
23
Sample
ps were from 23 countries. Covered places in North & South america, Eastern & Western Europe, Africa and Asia.
Total no of ps was: 1,198
who was excluded from sample selection?
children, elderly, visible physical disability
how was the sample taken?
Ps were chosen by being the 2nd person to cross a certain line on a pavement (systematic sample)- every ‘nth’
(this was every 2nd)
Procedure
*23 cities tested- aimed at obtaining widest possible sample of regions & cultures of world. However, subject selection was sometimes driven by convenience (driven by available experimenters)
*One local interested individual, usually student returning to home country for summer, collected data on helping behaviour.
*Confederates were college age, dressed neat & casual (ALL MALE to control for gender effects)
*Confederates tried to gain data from 5 different helping situations, but 2 of these ran into such difficulties that data couldn’t be used- ie, asking for change, mislaid letters, could not be used.
*3 helping behaviours were measured in 2 or more locations, in main city centre districts, during main business hours, on clear days, during summer months in years between 1992 & 1997.
*To further standardise conditions, experimenters were trained on exactly how to carry out procedure.
*reliability of experimenter behaviour was not tested in this study but it had been tested in a prev study using same training procedures, found to be good.
