Levine study

Question 1

What is simpatia?

Answer 1

Where some cultures believe that being friendly and agreeable and good-natured are prioritised over achievement.

Question 2

What was the aim of Levine’s study?

Answer 2

• To see if the tendency to help people within a city was stable across different helping situations
• To see if helping strangers varies across cultures

Question 3

Describe the sample from Levine’s study.

Answer 3

23 countries, the largest cities- members of these populations.

Question 4

Describe the procedure (not the helping situations) of Levine’s study.

Answer 4

They staged 3 different non-emergency helping situations. The people staging these situations were all male students who had gone home for the summer.

Question 5

What did Levine’s study measure?

Answer 5

• How many times help was offered for each situation across all countries
• Population size
• Pace of life
• Economic well-being
• Cultural values

Question 6

Describe the pen situation from Levine’s study.

Answer 6

The actor dropped the pen within 10-15 feet of a solo participant. The participant was classed as ‘helping’ if they notified the actor that they had dropped the pen or if they picked it up for them.

Question 7

Describe the injured leg/ newspaper situation from Levine’s study.

Answer 7

The actor would drop the newspapers in front of a solo person within 20 feet of the actor. The participant would be classed as helping if they offered to pick them up or picked them up without offering.

Question 8

Describe the blind person situation from Levine’s study.

Answer 8

The actor was pretending to be blind and trying to cross the street while the lights were green. The participant was classed as helping if they at least told them that it wasn’t yet safe to cross the road.

Question 9

Describe the quantitative findings from Levine’s study.

Answer 9

• The most helpful city was Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with 93.3% helpfulness
• The least helpful city was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 40.33% helpfulness

Question 10

Describe the qualitative findings from Levine’s study.

Answer 10

• Cities with lower economic wellbeing are more helpful
• The countries most likely to offer help are countries that value simpatia.

Question 11

What were the simpatia countries in Levine’s study?

Answer 11

Spain, Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.