Abstract

The aim of this field study was to examine helping behavior among passerbies in crowded and non-crowded areas. The study was carried out in an informal manner where the actor would lie down in the given areas, and the observers would record the amount of people who stopped to help or enquire. Due to the concept of the study, the passerby’s were the indirect participants and the objective of the study was discreetly disclosed to each passerby who bent down to offer assistance. Results showed that people tend to show more concern and interest in a less crowded area.

Helping behavior among strangers in crowded and non-crowded settings
The subject of prosocial behavior became increasingly popular since the 1970’s and
Methods
Participants
There were no participants in this field study, only passerby’s within the Help College (KPD) compound. Due to the observant nature of the study, demographic details of the passerby’s were not noted, as the whole idea was to discreetly observe the number of people who helped or enquired the actor’s wellbeing. The agenda of the act was revealed to each passerby that leaned down to ask the actor if he was alright.
Materials
The only material that we used during our field study was a paper and pencil, which we used to record the number of passerby’s that offered help.
Procedure
The study was conducted in two different areas within the entire KPD compound. The first area was a crowded area and the second was a less crowded area. The actor would then lie down in both areas, each area for a duration of three minutes. The observations were recorded by the appointed observer each time the actor lay down. The act was repeated five times for each area, which stretched out for a period of five days.

Table 1
Number of Passerby’s that Helped in the Given Areas Trials (days)
Types of area 1 2 3 4 5

Non crowded 2 1 2 0 1
Crowded 0 0 1 0 1 As shown in Table 1, passerby’s helped out mostly in the non-crowded