Lessons From The Princeton Seminary Experiment

10/10/2016
LessonsfromthePrincetonSeminaryExperiment:PeopleinaRushareLessLikelytoHelpOthers(andThemselves)
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Lessons from the Princeton Seminary

Experiment: People in a Rush are Less
Likely to Help Others (and Themselves)
June 16, 2015 by Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment
In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:2937 in the New Testament,) a
Samaritan helps a traveler assaulted by robbers and left half dead by the side of
the road. Prior to the Samaritan, a priest and a Levite pass the injured traveler
http://www.rightattitudes.com/2015/06/16/peopleinarusharelesslikelytohelpthemselves/
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and fail to notice him. Conceivably, the priest and Levites contempt was because
they didnt sincerely follow those same virtues they espoused as religious
functionaries. Possibly, they were in a hurry or were occupied with busy,
importanteven religiousthoughts. Perhaps the Samaritan was in less of a
hurry since he wasnt as socially important as the priest or Levite and was
therefore not expected to be somewhere.
The Princeton Seminary Experiment

Inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan, Princeton social psychologists
John Darley and Dan Batson conducted a remarkable experiment in the 1970s on
time pressure and helpful behavior. They studied how students of the Princeton
Theological Seminary conducted themselves when asked to deliver a sermon on
the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The students would were to give the sermon in a studio a building across
campus and would be evaluated by their supervisors. The researchers were
curious about whether time pressure would aect the seminary students helpful
nature. After all, the students were being trained to become ordained priests;
they are presumably inclined to help others.
As each student nalized his preparation in a classroom, the researchers inicted
an element of time constraint upon them by giving them one of three
instructions:
1. Youre late. They were expecting you a few minutes agoYoud better
hurry. It shouldnt take but just a minute. This was the high-hurry condition.
2. The (studio) assistant is ready for you, so please go right over. This was the
intermediate-hurry condition.
3. Itll be a few minutes before theyre ready for you, but you might as well
head on over. If you have to wait over there, it shouldnt be long. This was
the low-hurry condition.
As each student walked by himself from the preparation classroom to the studio,
he encountered a victim in a deserted alleyway just like the wounded traveler in
the parable of the Good Samaritan. This victim (actually an associate of the
experimenters) appeared destitute, was slouched and coughing and clearly in
need of assistance. The seminarians were thus oered a chance to apply what
they were about to preach.
Con ict, rather than callousness, can explain their

failure to stop.
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failure to stop.
Researchers were interested in determining if their imposed time pressure

aected the seminarians response to a distressed stranger. Remarkably, only
10% of the students in the high-hurry situation stopped to help the victim. 45%
of the students in the intermediate-hurry and 63% of the students in the lowhurry situations helped the victim.
The researchers concluded, A person not in a hurry may stop and oer help to a
person in distress. A person in a hurry is likely to keep going. Ironically, he is
likely to keep going even if he is hurrying to speak on the parable of the Good
Samaritan, thus inadvertently conrming the point of the parable Thinking
about the Good Samaritan did not increase helping behavior, but being in a
hurry decreased it.
In light of their training and calling, the seminarians failure of bystander
intervention is probably not due to indierence, self-centeredness, or contempt.
(Compare with the plot of the series nale of American sitcom Seinfeld, where
Jerry and friends are prosecuted for failure of duty to rescue.) The dominant
cause is time pressure. Most of the students who believed they had enough time
to stop did so. In contrast, the vast majority of those who thought they were late
did not stop to help. In other words, the perception of time pressure or having
limited time resulted in behaviors incongruent to their education and career:
the devotion to help others. Time pressure triggered these well-intentioned
students to behave in ways that, upon reection, they would nd disgraceful. The
weight of a time constraint caused the students to put their immediate concern
of being on time before the wellbeing of someone in need.
Were in such hurry that we dont stop to help
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Were in such hurry that we dont stop to help

ourselves
Im Late, Im Late for a very important date,
No time to say hello. Goodbye.
Im late, Im late, Im late, and when I wave,
I lose the time I save.
White Rabbit in the Disney musical Alice in Wonderland (1951)
The Princeton Seminary Experiment oers an even more personal lesson. As the
researchers in this experiment expound, when we speed up and feel rushed, we
experience a phenomenon known as narrowing of the cognitive map. That is,
we miss details, we are not present enough in the moment to notice what is
really important and we do not make the most benecial choices for ourselves.
As we make our way through life, not only do we not stop to help otherswe
also do not stop to help ourselves. We neglect our own needs. We fail to nurture
ourselves. We surrender, we settle, we lose hope. We compromise ourselves and
become what we often settle for.
Our noisy world and busy lives constantly make us hurry as somebody always
depends on us being somewhere. We constantly rush from place to place as if
our lives depended upon it. We rush while doing just about everything. We are at
the mercy of commitments often imposed by others.
Life moves quickly. And well have missed it.

Were too busy, were too hurried and were too
rushed. When people place demands on our time, our
rst resort is to cut out that which is most valuable.
We are so busy meeting deadlines that we cannot
make time for our loved ones. We abandon physical
exercise to get to meetings on time. We avoid medical
checkups critical to our well-being. We engage in
behaviors that can put ourselves at risk for negative
consequences in the future.
As our world continues to accelerate and our pace of
life picks up speed, the clocks nger turns inescapably. Life moves on by quickly,
and soon enough well have missed it entirely.
Idea for Impact: Be ever-conscious of the fact that
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Idea for Impact: Be ever-conscious of the fact that

time is the currency of your life
The German theologian and anti-Nazi descendent Dietrich Bonhoeer (1906
1945) wrote in his Letters and Papers from Prison, As time is the most valuable
thing that we have, because it is the most irrevocable, the thought of any lost
time troubles us whenever we look back. Time lost is time in which we have
failed to live a full human life, gain experience, learn, create, enjoy, and suer; it
is time that has not been lled up, but left empty.
Make the best use of your time. Interrupt your busy life to help yourself by living
more fully in the present. Nurture yourself. Your needs belong to the top.
Share this:
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Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Self Development

Tagged With: Attitudes
Comments
Venkatasubramanian says
June 16, 2015 at 11:22 AM
An excellent article.
I have almost been always in a high hurry situation.
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This article has made me realize the same.

Have to do something about it.
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Lessons from the Princeton Seminary

The Princeton Seminary Experiment

Con ict, rather than callousness, can explain their

Researchers were interested in determining if their imposed time pressure

Were in such hurry that we dont stop to help

Were in such hurry that we dont stop to help

Life moves quickly. And well have missed it.

Idea for Impact: Be ever-conscious of the fact that

Idea for Impact: Be ever-conscious of the fact that

Wondering what to read next?

Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Self Development

This article has made me realize the same.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Attitudes Balance Biases Books

Feedback Goals Great

Manager Interviewing Leadership

Lifehacks Managing the Boss Mental

Motivation Networking Parables

Thought Process Time

Winning on the Job Wisdom

Where does all

EconTalk's Russ Roberts presents an

Nagesh Belludi [contact him] is an Ann

Search this website

Shop at Amazon. Support a Noble

kids in South India. Our philanthropy

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