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Failure to Help When in a Hurry: Callousness or Conflict?

Pamela J. Cochran

Marshall F. Biederman

James L. Blosser

Maurice J. Ryan

Bruce Vogt

University of Kansas

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that being in a hurry does not reduce helping, it forces the potential helper to decide whom to help. It was predicted that if others were dependent on a hurrying individual to get somewhere quickly he would not stop; if others were not dependent, he would. Male undergraduates were informed that their data either were or were not vital for successful completion of a research project. They were then sent to another building to participate in the project. Half were told that they were late and must hurry; half were told they had ample time. On route, all encountered a male confederate slumped on the stairs, coughing and groaning. Results indicated that, as predicted, the importance of their data to the experimenter had a significant effect on whether subjects in a hurry would offer aid to the victim.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 1, 97-101 (1978)
DOI: 10.1177/014616727800400120


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