Would YOU Help an Obviously Hurt Person?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay, a little background. My husband works in a media aggression research laboratory here at the University of Michigan. Yesterday his boss was telling him about a research experiment done by a colleague of his. The basics of the experiment:

Various college-age students participating. Divided into two groups. The control group plays a non-violent video game (Gran Turismo IV), the experimental group plays a violent video game (I think Grand Theft Auto.) The research assistant then leaves the laboratory, saying, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” While he’s “gone,” RA then plays a very convincing recording of an argument between two people, which sounds like it’s taking place in the adjacent hall. (For female subjects, the argument is between females, for males the argument is between males.) So over time the argument (which is basically one saying to the other: “You SOB/bitch! You stole my boyfriend/girlfriend!” escalates, to the point that the researcher BANGS on the side of the wall and kicks over a garbage can in the hallway. Then one of the subjects screams something along the lines of, “Stop hurting me! I twisted my ankle!” and the fake “agressor” is heard running out the door, leaving the fake “victim” moaning in pain.

So the gist is that the subject is sitting in the room adjacent to the hall twiddling his/her thumbs, and has a total of three minutes listening to the “victim” moaning in pain and calling for help to go out in the hall and offer assistance. (For those who care, those who had played the violent game had a slight but statistically significant likelihood of not responding, and those who did help waited an average of 10x longer than the control group before offering assistance.)

But THIS is what REALLY gets me.
Even in the CONTROL GROUP, the group not exposed to the violent game, the total percentage of individuals who did not help the person calling for help was a whopping SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT. Only 25% of those college students bothered to help at all.

TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT? Are you KIDDING me? That is like… I don’t even know what that is. It makes me feel nauseated just thinking about it. I mean, even with my less than ideal childhood the value of helping others who were in need was still drilled into me. I’m of the sort that I would have run out into that hall before the fight even finished, in the hopes that my presence would serve to de-escalate the situation (I know this because I’ve done it before.) I was taught as a kid never to hesitate to call people to task for their outrageous behavior, even if it’s as basic as a general, “Hey, is everyone okay in here?”

I have a feeling many people here would feel the same way… but hell, maybe I’m wrong? So I ask you… in this situation, would you feel it was any cause for alarm? Would you offer assistance to the person calling for help?

And for those that undoubtedly would, what might be the cause of such widespread apathy? My own research director would posit it to the rise of narcissism in the U.S. over time, especially in college-aged students (scroll down to “The social cognition of narcissism” for some basic info.) Narcissism has been linked to aggressive behavior that would probably also explain apathy to others’ aggressive behavior. Her dissertation is on just that topic. I’m curious if anyone thinks that’s a likely explanation, and if not, what might be causing it?

(Sorry I can’t cite the aggression study–it hasn’t been published yet. But I think it’s supposed to appear on Dateline NBC soon so you might see it eventually.)

2

It’s alarming, but did it count if you took a peek out the door to make sure that you don’t put your own ass on the line? Were there any circumstances that precluded helping the victim? What I mean is, were the subjects told to complete the video game task or else the experiment would fail? There is the well documented experiment where college students tortured people merely because they were told to. It’s got something to do with obeying authority without question.

I’m old, and no good at video games, but I sure as shit would hope that I’d run out the door and help somebody in need.

3

The episode in the hallway happened after the student was finished playing the game. From what Mr. Olives described, the RA then told the subject he had to run and get some paperwork and would be right back. So though I am not certain, it would seem plausible that this would be interpreted as a kind of “break” in the experiment and the subject would be free to in the very least wander out to the doorway to see if everything was okay. I am actually rather curious about the details of the experiment as well, and will be on the look out for them ('fraid I can’t watch Dateline, as I don’t have a TV–but if anyone does see the program I’m curious what they make of it.) In general I get the sense that it wasn’t an issue of obeying authority or disrupting the experiment.

So I’m guessing the experiment you’re referring to is the classic electrocution one… clicks Oh you’re talking about the Stanford study. Yeah, that and the electrocution one (where people basically administered what they believed were very damaging and painful electric shocks to unseen “subjects” merely because the researcher ordered them to) do indicate that people will pretty much carry out atrocities because they’re told to, with little other reason necessary. An interesting thing about the Stanford study, I always thought, was that even the researchers were so wrapped up in the phenomenon that they didn’t think to halt the experiment until it was reported to an outsider who pulled the plug out of ethical concerns.

Damn. I wish I had more info on this study. Maybe I can e-mail my husband’s boss for more info…

ETA I would be such a lousy person to do an experiment on. I’ve spent so much time mucking about with psychologists I don’t trust anything that happens in the course of an experiment. I can’t even take a survey without utmost suspicion… But even if I suspected it was part of the experiment, I’d still go out in the hall just to be sure. Moral obligation and all that…

4

Was this a one student at a time thing, or was there a group playing at once? Where you get groups, people always expect someone else to intervene, and so think they don’t have to.

5

To answer the question you asked, yes I would help an obviously hurt person. However, in the experimental setting you described there was in fact no injured person. Although you say this happened after the set task, it is plausible that the students may have realized that the scenario was staged, as has been given as an explanation for the Milgram experiment Milgram experiment - Wikipedia.

6

Excellent observation.

One student at a time.

7

If you thought there was a 99% chance that something was staged, wouldn’t that extra 1% still compel you out of your seat to at least make sure? For me if there is a 1% possibility that someone needs help, and all I have to do to find out is walk ten feet (or whatever) to the door, by golly I’ll just inconvenience myself so.

I think Milgram would be relevant is this were a situation where obedience was an issue, but I just don’t think that’s the case. And in terms of students thinking it might be… I know very few kids outside of the social sciences who are familiar with Milgram. Even if they have taken an intro psych class, I don’t think it’s likely they would remember it. Most people who don’t know anything about psychology don’t really think about these kinds of things in the heat of the moment… and that’s IMHO, though I’m curious if anyone has any info that might contradict that idea.

8

Sorry, Blue Mood, I misunderstood your initial statement. I thought you were saying students would realize it was staged based on their knowledge of Milgram, not that Milgram has been criticized in a similar way.

Though I’m curious, as in the Wiki you cited it says 84% of respondents said they were “glad” or “very glad” to have been a part of the experiment in retrospect, and the scientists were even sent letters of thanks. I’m having a hard time believing that if the majority of people believed it was staged, the majority of people would be really happy to be involved in the experiment–if I was part of an experiment I believed was staged, I think I’d be “neutral” or “unhappy” on the grounds that the experiment was transparent and lame.

Anywho… as I said, 1% chance and my ass would be out there in two seconds.

9

On Milgram, from the Wiki:

These sound like normal stress-responses and rationalization progression to me. Have any subjects of Milgram’s experiment later come forward and admitted they knew the whole thing was staged and pretended to be upset just to mess with the researchers? That takes a certain degree of assholishness in itself, but the Wiki doesn’t mention any criticisms of the experiment short of ethical ones.

10

I suspect when being told that the researcher would be “right back,” at least some of the subjects expected that any moment now, the researcher - more familiar with the building, easier for them to properly summon help as a result, etc. - would come along and find the victim.

I know that my first thought was that a twisted ankle is a very low priority injury. I used to get those very frequently and wouldn’t think much of one, though I expect I would also be a responder, regardless. If they didn’t hear what the injury was I would expect (hope?) that someone would check more quickly.

11

I don’t play video/PC games so I guess I don’t really count…but if I heard something like that going on outside our office, I’d like to think I’d make the effort to help. I suppose it depends on the volume/scale of the argument, if I thought it would be dangerous to intervene, I’d just phone our security staff and get them to send someone over. They’re used to dealing with this kind of thing amongst our students and respond very quickly to any reports like this.

I think the important thing these days is to consider the level of danger you’re placing yourself in. Far too often we get headlines in the news about “have-a-go heroes” who are injured or even killed trying to break up an argument or something similar. In fact, there was a programme on TV over here last night about whether people would actually intervene in something - some said they would, without question, whereas a lot of others were more cautious in their response, citing the possibility of violence to themselves, accusations of assault etc and the sad fact that our current culture of blame would more likely result in the “helper” being prosecuted for something than the real culprit.

12

I’ve helped hurt people. Plural.

It’s becoming more widespread to “think of your own safety”; nowadays people often don’t know their neighbors (I sure don’t know mine!)… where not so long ago it was relatively common to know everybody within a several-villages circle (and often, to be related to half of them), now that’s considered amazing. Many things which are considered unacceptable now were “just in the family” not so long ago (which means both that you didn’t comment it with strangers and that you did not expect it from a stranger). Where a husband murdering his wife used to give material to storytellers for years, now it’s a common part of the news (in Europe) or “something that happens to others” (the US, unless it’s something megaspectacular like the Lacys, cases of domestic violence don’t get reported).

The duality between “helping” and “safety” has always existed. The sentence “dos se peleaban y recibió un tercero” (two were fighting, and a third one [who tried to stop them] got badly hurt) is already explained in one of the tales written by El Arcipreste de Hita… what I think has changed is which of the two is seen as more correct.

13

We stopped to help a guy that was laying in the middle of the road; apparently the aftermath of a gang incident.

The other gang saw us helping and started whipping bottles at our car, etc. We pulled into a gas station and they were all over our car trying to pull us out of the vehicle to fuck us up. The gas station attendant called the cops who showed up to save our asses.

I’d still try to help a person in need, though. If I was the person in need, I’d hope someone would do the same for me. You take your chances.

14

At first blush this seems terrible, but I try to keep some perspective on how difficult it is to recreate a “normal” situation in an experiment like this. Maybe there is an element of being in a situation where the RA is “in charge” and the participants were told to wait for his/her return (explicitly or implied in the “I’ll be right back”). I still laugh at myself over an incident that happened a few years ago – at the end of a doctor’s appointment, the doctor told me to wait for the nurse to bring me something, and I guess he got distracted and forgot to tell the nurse, and I waited for an insanely long time before I got up and looked for the nurse myself. Of course, no one was calling for help in the hall, but it’s amazing to me how long I was willing to wait because I was in this mindset of “I’m in the doctor’s office, therefore I follow the doctor’s instructions.”

I also wonder if more people would have responded if the “victim” was injured in some other, non-aggressive way, as in “help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” which might possibly remove the safety issue related to getting involved in a fight between two other people. And did your husband mention how people responded when the RA returned? Did they say report right away that someone needed help, and could the RA arrange for assistance?

15

I think the knowledge or more importantly perception that samaritans endanger themselves is all too real. These stories are common fodder in modern media and even Hollywood fare.

I know I’m affected by it. I saw a lady hit a curb and blow a tire Saturday while I was at work. In less than a second I realized I can stop, I’m handy at changing a tire, I could get her on her way quickly, but I could scratch her Mercedes or break a lugnut, accusations, paperwork, my employer yelling at me for taking time off to help, etc. Is it all worth it?

Knowledge that it was midday in a good neighborhood and that my accuvaluejudger said she would have AAA there soon sealed the deal.

Until the idea that helping others becomes part of the modern lexicon it is unlikely such behavior will be reinforced.

16

I’m picturing that scene in Airplane! with the man sitting in the Taxi for the entire movie still waiting for the main character to return. :slight_smile:

To the OP, yes- I would attempt to help the person, but I think it takes an assertive personality to do so. I had an incident happen at a place of employment that was similar, and the main person in charge froze to the point of not even picking up the phone to call for help. Some people just freeze in fear at the idea of confrontation, I thinkl

17

Yes, absolutely. I’ve done it before and will do it again. I’m that mom at the park who races over when you’re chatting with the other moms and didn’t see your kid fall off the climbing platform. I often step in with a “everything OK here?” when an argument looks like it might be going bad. I’ve even been known to offer to distract kids with a story on the bus if they’re pressing their parent’s last nerve and about to get walloped. Once I rescued a homeless woman on the corner who had passed out right next to a bus stop. No one was doing a thing, so I threw my cell phone at the nearest gawker and told them to call the emergency number. I then brought her around (using an acupressure technique) long enough to learn she was diabetic and had been drinking a lot. As soon as an ambulance arrived, I told the paramedic what I knew and stepped out of the way.

Am I some sort of hero? No. I’m a busybody. Anybody who’s seen me in IMHO or MPSIMS can testify to that! I’m good in a crisis and like feeling useful. I don’t expect everyone to be the same, but I think I should take that “gift” and make it useful - I’m learning to be a nurse.

18

You mean, in the hallway? In the same building?

I dunno, something seems a bit odd about the scenario to me. I’m trying to picture it. But honestly it would not automatically occur to me that someone might be seriously hurt indoors, with people all around. I would be most inclined to think - relationship troubles - and try to ignore it, if rolling my eyes.

Wrong maybe, but I’m still feeling a bit…odd about the whole thing. I have helped hurt people before. The test seems entirely too fake, for some reason.

19

I’m afraid I am an “act first, think later” kind of person. Might come from my history - I grew up in an abusive household, and I tended bar for several years and often had to break up fights.

(Aside: I found that, because I am a small woman, my interference seems to throw aggressors off, which is a weird kind of psychology in and of itself. And it doesn’t seem to work as well when it’s two women fighting as it does when it’s two men fighting or a man and a woman fighting, so my theory is that my size really does bring out either protectiveness in males, or the simple realization that getting physical with me is REALLY going to make them look stupid.)

Anyhow. I’m sensitive to conflict and very edgy about it, so I have rushed into some pretty stupid situations, including knocking on the door of a neighbor’s house during their screaming match and asking, “Is someone hurt? Can I help?” and dragging my poor unassuming, unaggressive husband into a gang fight (three guys kicking a fourth guy on the ground - I drove my car into the middle of it and hopped out waving my arms like a moron while my husband dialed 911 while simultaneously trying to keep me in the damn car… he is pretty sure that one of these days I am going to get my clock cleaned but good.)

20

Anaamika, does it change your answer to remind you that the “injured” person continues to call for help for 3 minutes? I agree that putting a wall between us does change things. If the person, say, falls heavily against the door, I might do something because it’s now “in” my space. If it’s just the sounds of a confrontation and then the sounds of people walking away, I might simply assume they’ve moved on or someone else has intervened. But if someone is calling for help, I’m helping.