jan 1, 1971 - McMillen & Austin
study on helping and
alleviating negative emotions
Description:
Researchers had Ss wait in a room for the experiment to start, and then had a confederate come into the room to "get a lost book" and they would mention to the Ss that most of the answers were B and then leave. The experimenter would ask S if they had heard anything about the experiment, and S would say yes or no. The experimenter would then ask the S to help then grade the rest of the tests. The Ss who didn't lie about hearing anything about the experiment would usually help for 2 minutes while the Ss who did lie helped for 63 minutes. (To alleviate their feelings of guilt about lying).
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