The Good Samaritan Experiment

For those who do not know the story of the good samaritan, it is this person who is helped an injured man in need while others just passed by and ignored the poor man. There were a couple of psychologists who wanted to test if religion has a certain effect on the helpful behavior of people. These psychologists are John Darley and C. Daniel Batson.

The subjects were a group of seminarians. The first half were given the story of the good samaritan and was asked to perform a sermon about it in a different building. The other half were told to give a short talk about job opportunities in a seminary.

The subjects were then given different times that they had to deliver the sermon so that some of them will be in a hurry and the others will not. On the way to the building, an injured man will be slumped.

Those who studied the story did not stop any more often than those who prepared for a speech on job opportunities. The biggest factor was the time frame given to the students.

What does it say? We are hypocrites. Who would contest to the fact that it is much easier to speak in a room full of people than helping a stranger and actually touching a smelly and bleeding old man.