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A Famous Experiment Shows Why Most People Don’t Help Others
You’re not a bad person, you’re way too busy to bother
A brief refresher on the Parable of the Good Samaritan
You’re probably familiar with the story of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Bible records the story of a traveler assaulted by robbers and left half-dead by the roadside.
The man was laying in a pool of blood, battling to survive, when a priest and a Levite came across him. Instead of helping, they quietly passed him by, turned away, and went about their business.
But then a good Samaritan came along, took pity on the stranger, and left everything else behind to save the man’s life.
Why couldn’t the priest and Levite practice what they preached when it mattered? These were people who preach compassion and concern for others.
The Princeton Seminary Experiment
In1973, social psychologists John Darley and Daniel Batson wanted to put the Parable of the Good Samaritan to the test. The idea was to figure out why some people help others in some situations but not others.
