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Effects Of Similarity And Tourist Status On Prosocial Behavior: A Field Study In Spain, Reid A. (Reid Anders) Nelson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Male and female participants in four cities across Southern and Northern Spain were approached by a male tourist-confederate and were given an opportunity to act in a helpful or unhelpful manner. The factor of interest was similarity to the helper, which was manipulated via spoken language (English vs. Spanish) and soccer team affiliation (in-group vs. out-group jersey). To investigate anti-American sentiment, confederate nationality (American or Canadian) was also manipulated. Prosocial behavior was operationally defined as granting use of a cell phone to a lost tourist. Consistent with the similarity hypothesis, it was found that conditions in which the confederate was …