On the Motivation to Help: Victim Information, Proportion Dominance and Group Affiliation Systematically Explored

There are 3 factors that have a large impact on the motivation to help a victim. 1.) A higher willingness to help an identified, than a non-identified victim. 2.) A preference for saving a large percentage of a group at risk in comparison to only considering the total number of saved victims. 3.) A victim closer to the helpers in-group elicits a higher motivation to help. In previous studies only 2 of the factors has been investigated simultaneously. For the first time, this study examines the 3 factors together, replicating the main effects, exploring interaction effects, and comparing between- and within-subject measures. 312 Swedish students participated in an experiment that systematically manipulated all 3 factors using both within- and between-subject measures. There were significant main effects on all three factors when evaluated jointly, in accordance with prior research. There was a within-subject interaction between the proportions of victims being helped, and if the victim was identified or not. There was a between-subject effect, where the identified victim elicited a higher motivation to help than the non-identified victim. A lack of additional interactions between the three effects indicated a certain rigidness of the three effects