Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to better understand how altruistic behavior varies by gender, race, age, and dress. Eagly & Crowley’s (1986) social role theory maintains that the traditional male sex role promotes heroic and chivalrous helping behavior. Based on this theoretical insight, we hypothesized that men would be more likely to exhibit helping behavior than women (regardless of their race, age, or dress), especially if the person requiring assistance was a woman. We also expected that fewer women than men would offer assistance to another, especially if the person in need of help was a man. To test our hypotheses, we went to the downtown Waterside Festival Marketplace, where male and female actors “dropped” a stack of books. We found no significant differences in helping behavior between male and female subjects, all else being equal.
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Elizabeth Monk-Turner is professor of sociology and criminal justice, and chair at Her primary research interests are in education, gender, and labor markets. A developing research interest is in better understanding the factors that shape altruistic behavior.
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Monk-Turner, E., Blake, V., Chniel, F. et al. Helping hands: A study of altruistic behavior. Gend. Issues 20, 65–70 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-002-0024-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-002-0024-2