THE WAY WE ARE !!!!

The famous psychologist Richard Nisbett conducted an experiment whereby the participants were led to individual booths and invited to speak over the intercom about their personal lives and problems. They were to talk in turn for about 2 minutes. Only one microphone was active at any one time. There were six participants in each group, one of whom was a set stooge. The fake participant spoke first, following a script prepared by the experimenters. He described his problems adjusting to New York and admitted with obvious embarrassment that he was prone to seizures, especially when stressed. All the participants then had a turn. When the microphone was again turned over to the stooge, he became agitated and incoherent, said he felt a seizure coming on, and asked for someone to help him. The last words heard from him were, "C-ould somebody-er--er-help-er-uh-uh-uh [choking sounds]. I... I'm gonna die-er-er-er I'm... gonna die-er-er-I seizure I-er[chokes, then quiet]." At this point the microphone of the next participant automatically became active, and nothing more was heard from the possibly dying individual.

What do you think the participants in the experiment did? so far as the participants knew , one of them was having a seizure and had asked for help. However, there were several other people who could possibly respond, so perhaps one could stay safely in one's booth. These were the results: only four of the fifteen participants responded immediately to the appeal for help. Six never got out of their booths, and five others came out only well after the "seizure victim" apparently choked.

The experiment shows that individuals feel relieved of responsibility when they know that others have heard the same request for help.

Did the results surprise you ?? very probably. Most of us think of ourselves as decent people who would rush to help in such a situation , and we expect other decent people to do the same. The point of the experiment, of course, was to show that this expectation is wrong,, even normal, decent people do not rush to help when they expect others to take on the unpleasantness of dealing with a seizure. And that means all of us and you, too.

When I first came across and read the procedure of the helping experiment I thought I would come to the stranger's help immediately, as I probably would if I found myself alone with a seizure victim. I was probably wrong. If I find myself in a situation in which other people have an opportunity to help, I might not step forward. The presence of others would reduce my sense of personal responsibility more than I initially thought.

Changing one's mind about human nature is hard work, and changing one's mind for the worse about oneself is even harder.



My great thanks to Mr. Daniel K. for finding and discussing the experiment that was conducted a long time ago by R. Nisbett.