The power of one: the relative influence of helpful and selfish models

Abstract

We compared the extent to which people imitate models who exhibit either helpful or selfish behavior. In Study 1, female shoppers witnessed an individual either help or not help a woman who dropped her books. Women who saw the helpful model were more likely to assist a confederate who dropped a dollar, whereas those who saw the unhelpful model assisted at a rate no different than the control condition. In Study 2, undergraduate women saw a confederate take either one or five pieces of candy after being instructed to take only one. Participants who witnessed the unselfish behavior took fewer pieces for themselves than control condition participants, whereas those who saw the selfish behavior did not differ from the control condition.