Jane Allyn Piliavin and Irving M. Piliavin (1972)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 232, 353-361
Case summary from
Fisher, C. B., (1996). Case Studies in Research
Ethics. Fordham University
Department of Psychology, 441 E. Fordham Road
Bronx, NY 10458-5198
The purpose of this study was to examine some of the factors leading to "bystander apathy" (the failure of witnesses to help a victim if many other bystanders are present. Piliavin and Piliavin disagreed with this explanation and proposed that people are less likely to help a victim if they feel helping may place them in danger. The researchers observed the helping behaviors of subway passengers in response to a series of "staged crises" in which a "victim" with a cane feigned a collapse on a crowded train and appeared to either bleed (indicating a potentially dangerous situation) or not bleed from the mouth. During the experiment some of the passengers panicked when they saw the "bleeding victim" and some attempted to pull the emergency cord to stop the train. The finding that passengers were less likely to help the "bleeding" victim irrespective of how many passengers were present, supported the hypothesis that the perceived danger of the situation (rather than the number of other witnesses present) determines helping behavior.