The Role of Racial Attitudes in Helping Behavior

Abstract

Summary Although a number of studies have demonstrated that the victim's race affects the probability that a bystander will intervene and help during an emergency, the process by which attitudes affect helping behavior is unclear. The present study suggests that attitudes toward the victim may affect helping behavior by influencing the bystander's interpretation of the degree to which help is needed. The results indicate that when a bystander was the only witness, black victims were helped as frequently as white victims. However, bystanders together with other passive witnesses were more likely to help the white victim than the black victim.