Helpfulness to Lost Tourists

The Journal of Social Psvcholoav. 1997. 137(4). 502-509

Helpfulness to Lost Tourists

FREDRIC E. RABINOWITZ LEAH SUTTON

TONY SCHUTTER ABBY BROWN

CARISSA KRIZO JOHN LARSEN

JIM STYN ABBY WELANDER DENETTE WILSON

SARAH WRIGHT University of Redlands

ABSTRACT. In this field study, the helpfulness of natives to English-speaking tourists was measured in Salzburg, Austria; Florence, Italy; and Prague, Czech Republic. Help- fulness, the willingness of participants to provide the tourists-confederates with directions to popular landmarks, occurred in 77% of the 366 cases. Participants in Salzburg, Austria, were most attentive to the confederates’ requests for directions. Male participants stood closer, spent more time, and listened more attentively to requests for directions from female confederates than to those from male confederates. Neither the city in which the helping situations occurred nor the gender of the participants was significant in the rate of giving directions. Participants similar in age to the confederates gave directions more often than did those who were older. More frequent assistance occurred during encounters on sunny or partly sunny days than during encounters on cloudy or rainy days.

THE DEGREE OF HELPFULNESS of its citizens toward foreign tourists can sometimes result in stereotypes of a particular country or city. One measure of this characteristic is the citizens’ willingness to assist a lost visitor who is seek- ing directions to a landmark or tourist site. In this situation, the vulnerable tourist may be embarrassed to ask for help from a native of the city or country (Pearce, 1982).

In several studies, researchers have addressed the general concept of altruis- tic behavior and its application in a variety of settings (Krebs, 1970). In a cross-

Address correspondence to Fredric E. Rabinowitz, Department of Psychology, University of Redlands, P.0. Box 3080, Redlands, CA 92373-0999. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to rabinowi@uol:edu.

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nationality study, Feldman (1 968) reported greater assistance to foreigners by participants of higher socioeconomic status when approached by confederates speaking their own language. In other studies, people received more frequent and thorough help from persons similar to themselves (Emswiller, Deaux, & Willits, 1971; Juni & Roth, 1985; Krebs, 1975). Also, the closer the ages of participant and confederate, the more likely the participant will be to grant help (Yinon, Sharon, & Malkiman, 1983).

Most studies on helping have not been specific to lost tourists. Studies of gender differences and helping behaviors have been conflicting and inconclusive (Benson, Karabenick, & Lerner, 1976). In some, there is little or no gender difference (Cunningham, 1979; Krebs, 1970; Rushton, 1978). In others, a participant is more likely to help a confederate of the opposite sex (Bickman, 1974; Emswiller, Deaux, & Willits, 1971). Juni and Roth (1985) noted that men are more likely to help women than to help other men, whereas women help both sexes equally. In a meta-analytic review, Eagly and Crowley (1986) found that the circumstances of the helping situation have a strong impact on the altruism and helping behavior of men and women according to their gender roles.

City size and weather conditions also affect the amount of help one receives. Residents of larger cities are less likely than those of smaller ones to help (Amato, 1980; Hedge & Yousif, 1992; Rushton, 1978). In field studies, assistance was more forthcoming in sunny weather and less so in extremes of temperature (Cunningham, 1979; Schneider, Lesko, & Garrett, 1980).

Several researchers varied the psychological cost of helping to the participant and the urgency conveyed by the confederate: Altruism increases in situations of low cost and high urgency (Hedge & Yousif, 1992; Pilavin, Dovidio, Gaertner, & Clark, 1981; Shotland & Stebbins, 1983; Wilson & Kahn, 1975).

We used asking directions of participants-a measure of helpfulness in pre- vious field studies (Feldman, 1968; Schiavo, Sherlock, & Wicklund, 1974)-to understand how the variables of nationality, gender, age, language spoken, city size, and weather conditions affect helping behavior in three European cities.

We hypothesized that these elements would influence the proportion of helpfulness in response to a low-cost, moderate-urgency request for directions. Specifically, we predicted that helping behavior would increase when the ages of the participant and confederate were similar, when the participant and confederate were of the opposite sex, when they spoke the same language, and when they encountered each other in a smaller city under pleasant weather conditions.

For this study, we selected 189 male and 177 female participants, presumed natives of Salzburg, Austria; Florence, Italy; and Prague, Czech Republic, for a total sample of 366. The participants’ estimated ages ranged from 15 to 70 years. Every unaccompanied 4th person we judged to be a native of the city (e.g., car-

504 The Journal of Social Psychology

ried no camera; dressed like the local residents) became a participant. The participants were not informed that they were part of the study.

The confederates were 3 male (2 European American and 1 Asian American) and 6 female (all European American) undergraduate students, ages 20 to 21. We separated them into three groups, each with 1 male and 2 female confederates. In each city, the male confederate asked 20 participants for directions; each female confederate asked 10. While 1 confederate approached the selected participant, the other 2 confederates observed the interaction.

We used several independent and dependent variables. Our independent variables were (a) gender of the participant and gender of the confederate (4 combinations: male participant-male confederate, male participant-female confederate, female participant-female confederate, and female participant-male confederate), (b) language spoken by the participant in his or her response (Eng- lish or no English), (c) city (Salzburg, Florence, or Prague), (d) weather condition (sunny/partly sunny or cloudy/rainy), and (e) estimated age of participant ( I 5-1 9, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60 and older). The dependent variables were (a) whether the participant stopped and listened to request (yes or no) and (b) whether the participant gave the directions requested (yes or no). The space (in inches) between participant and confederate and the duration (in seconds) of the encounter were additional variables included to assist us in quantifying the experimental situation.

During the encounter, two confederates recorded their observations on a checklist. Items on the checklist were city; date; time of day; day of the week; landmark sought; gender, approximate age, dress (casual or formal; neat or slop- py), and language of each participant; confederate’s gender; whether or not the participant (a) listened to the request, (b) gave directions, or (c) offered to take the confederate to the location; the length of time spent with the participant; the physical space (in inches) between the participant and the confederate; the ges- tures (touch, eye contact, pointing, smiling, etc.) of the participant; and any other salient observations. Before collecting the data, we established that the confederate would ask for Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, and the Charles Bridge in Prague. The cities’ populations varied: Prague, over 1 million; Florence, approximately 500,000; and Salzburg, approximately 100,000.

At various times of the day, the confederate approached the randomly selected participant who met our criteria for the experiment and said in Eng- lish, “Excuse me, can you tell me where . . . ?” The other two members of the team, who were out of sight, observed. To ensure that the response to the confederate’s request for directions and the time of the interaction would be dependent on the will of the participant, the confederate said nothing more except for brief answers to the participant’s questions and “thank you” at the conclusion of the encounter. The interaction always took place within a five-block radius of the area requested.


Results

From a total of 366 participants, 341 (93%) stopped to listen to the request for directions, and 283 (77%) actually gave directions to the confederates. We used stepwise hierarchical multiple regression analyses to determine the interaction between the independent variables (age of participant, genders of participant and confederate, language of the participant, city in which the interaction occurred, weather condition at the time of the experiment, distance between the participant and the confederate, and duration of the encounter) and the dependent variables (whether the participant listened to the confederate’s request and whether the participant actually gave the directions requested).

Listening to Request

The space between the participant and the confederate and the city in which the interaction occurred were the only variables predictive (RZ = .63; F[2, 3631 = 315.52, p < .001) of a participant’s willingness to stop and listen to a confederate’s request. Space accounted for most of the variance (R2 = .61, F[l, 3641 = 592.57, p < .OOl).

A chi-square analysis of genders of the participant and confederate and listening to the request for directions was significant, ~ ~ ( 3 , N = 366) = 9.75, p < .05. Specifically, male participants were more willing to listen to female confederates than to male confederates. In only 1 case out of 91 trials, a male participant did not listen to a female confederate’s request; in contrast, male participants ignored male confederates’ requests for assistance in 12 out of 95 trials.

The chi-square analysis between city and willingness of the residents to listen to requests for directions was significant, ~ ~ ( 2 , N = 366) = 5.28, p < .07, in all three cities. More participants listened to the confederates’ requests in Salzburg (98%) than in Florence (91%) or in Prague (91%). Only 3 of the 120 people in Salzburg did not listen to the confederate.

Giving Directions

The combination of the variables of space, age, weather, and time were predictive (R2 = .18, F[4,361] = 20.99, p < .001) of the likelihood of the participant’s response to a confederate’s request for directions. Space accounted for most of the variance (R2 = .13, F [ 1, 3641 = 55.97, p < .OOl).

Participant’s age and compliance with the requests for directions were significant, ~ 2 ( 5 , N = 366) = 20.162, p < .01. Of participants aged 20 to 29, 91% gave directions; of those between 50 and 59,67% complied; however, of participants over 60, only 62% gave the requested information to the confederates.

The relation between weather (sunny/partly sunny or cloudy/rainy) and compliance with requests was significant, ~ ’ ( 1 , N = 366) = 7 .843 ,~ < .01. Of the


136 participants approached on the sunnylpartly sunny days, 85% gave directions; only 73% of 230 encounters on cloudylrainy days resulted in the confederates’ receiving directions.

We performed a two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the space between the confederate and the participant, with the city and genders of the participant and confederate as the independent variables. There was a significant difference between the four gender pairings, F(3, 354) = 3.69, p < .01. The male participant-female confederate pairing had the closest ( M = 17.7) interactions in inches; second was the female participant-male confederate combination ( M = 21.7); third was the female participant-female confederate pairing ( M = 21.9); and male participants and male confederates maintained the greatest ( M = 23.8) distance of all the pairings. The closer distances between male participants and female confederates were substantiated by a post hoc analysis (Fisher’s PLSD).

Time Spent Giving Directions

We performed a two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the dependent variable of time spent giving directions and the independent variables of city and genders of participant and confederate. There was a significant difference for city, F(2, 354) = 3.265, p < .05, and a significant interaction between city and genders of the confederate and participant, F(6, 354) = 2.79, p < .05. A post hoc analysis revealed a significant difference for time (in seconds) spent giving directions between Florence ( M = 14.8) and both Salzburg ( M = 20.2) and Prague ( M = 20.1). The interaction between gender and time spent in each city was significant, F(2, 354) = 2.79, p < .01. Male participants in Florence spent more time ( M = 21.1) with female confederates than did their counterparts in Salzburg ( M = 16) and in Prague ( M = 18.5). Female participants in Florence also spent significant- ly less time with female confederates (M = 9.9) than did female participants in either Prague or Salzburg ( M = 27.8 and M = 25.3, respectively).

Discussion

In general, a high percentage of the natives in the three European cities studied were helpful to the English speaking touristsxonfederates. Although this willingness to help may bespeak a high level of trust and responsiveness to those in need, it can be better understood by analyzing the cost and urgency of the help requested (Morgan, 1978).

Shotland and Stebbins (1983) found that the highest response rate for helping occurs under conditions of low cost to participants and great urgency of the requests. In our study, the 93% of the participants who stopped to listen to the request may have been simultaneously determining the psychological cost of the request and assessing the urgency expressed by the confederate. The 77% who gave directions may have considered the cost minimal. Although the confeder-


ates tried to convey moderate urgency, it was difficult to determine the level of urgency that participants actually perceived. Those who did not give directions after listening to the request may have perceived that the cost of helping was too great or that the need was not sufficient.

We cast some light on the contradictory and inconclusive findings about the role of gender in helping behaviors. Male participants were more willing to listen to a request for help from female than from male confederates. During the interaction, the male participants stood closer to and spent more time with the female confederates than with the male confederates; however, there were no significant differences among the gender pairings in the rates of compliance. It is possible that many of the male participants, when approached by unknown females in their early twenties, misinterpreted the females’ requests for help as subtle signs of sexual interest (Abbey, 1982). The longer time spent by male participants in Florence with female confederates may be related to cultural tradi- tions in southern Italy that permit men more freedom than women to linger and flirt with the opposite sex (Brislin, Cushner, Cheme, & Yong, 1986). Although communication difficulties may account for the lower rates of obtaining directions after the requests, the language of the participants was not significant.

As predicted, the ages of the participants affected their helping behaviors. Mirroring the research of Yinon et. al. (1983), the highest rate for providing directions was in the 20-29 age range (similar to the confederates’ ages); among those 50 and older, the rate of compliance was lowest. Though this study was limited by the lack of variety in the ages of the confederates, it still suggests that people are more likely to help someone like themselves (Emswiller et al., 197 I ; Juni & Roth, 1985; Krebs, 1975). To further test this hypothesis, future researchers could enlist confederates with a greater range of ages.

Although requests in the smallest city, Salzburg, were most likely to be heeded by participants, there were no significant differences among the three cities in the proportion of actual directions given. The size and location of the cities were too similar to produce the effects noted by other researchers. The three cities studied are tourist destinations and therefore may not reflect the diversity of behavior of small towns or cities “off the beaten path.”

As predicted, the weather played a role in the helping situations. Sunny or partly sunny weather was associated with more directions being given than were cloudy or rainy conditions. According to investigations of this phenomenon, in sunny weather and moderate temperatures, the lower cost of helping results in higher rates of altruism (Cunningham, 1979; Schneider et al., 1980).

The distance between participant and confederate and the duration of the encounter accounted for much of the variance in participants’ disposition to listen to requests and their assent in giving directions. We suspect that these two elements were less the causes and more likely the effects of the interpersonal engagement between the participant and confederate. To listen to a request, one must move closer to the speaker. Similarly, a person who gives directions is more


likely than one who does not respond to stand close to and to spend more time with the solicitor.

Although we pointed to some trends in the conditions that may facilitate or limit altruism toward lost tourists, our research design and limited resources pre- vented us from addressing many issues. It would have been interesting to use confederates of different ages, ethnic backgrounds, and languages so that we could generalize our results to a greater segment of the population.

Varying the cost and urgency of the request for directions might have more accurately defined how these variables facilitate or limit responses to requests for help. Because asking for directions was only one form of request for assistance, other types of requests might also have varied the urgency and the cost to participants and gender differences in helping rates.

Because we chose our participants randomly and partially by appearance, we made some errors in identifying natives of the cities. Future researchers should ask participants if they are from the area where the study is being conducted. Because we confined our study to major tourist areas in three European cities, future research should be expanded to rural areas and other parts of the world to increase knowledge of the core conditions most conducive to helping behaviors.

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Received July 19, 1996

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Helpfulness to Lost Tourists