Comparison Between Social Exchange And Conformity Theory

If a person was walking and fell scattering a handful of paper, then more bystanders should help pick up papers if they saw another person helping out, in comparison to no one assisting them, because of the social exchange and conformity theory. The social exchange theory is also known cost-benefit analysis or as utilitarianism, where people debate on whether or not their act of kindness is a costly or a gain for them in the end. Conformity can be defined when a person changes their behavior in order to satisfy a group norm. This hypothesis reflects the findings from the Kitty Genovese which exemplified the bystander effect; the phenomenon where if there are more people present, fewer people will be willing to take action. This experiment was an attempt to create a norm, since the behavior that was being mimicked was to pick up the scattered papers. …show more content…
It was done within a 2-hour time span on each day, every 30 minutes. The independent variable in an experiment is aimed to be the only variable the is manipulated or changed in order to produce more accurate and consistent data. The dependent variable in an experiment is the variable that is measured from the results. This was a field experiment – a simulation that is not performed in a laboratory – and makes the experiment more difficult to set controlled variables. Controlled variables should have unchanging situations, to have more reliable data in an experiment. There would be more genuine responses from the participants however, by means of a field experiment since they would not expect their reactions to be