A commuter carrying a heavy load of research papers tripped and scattered their documents across the platform floor during peak hours in two different metropolitan transit networks.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, several bystanders immediately rushed to help collect the papers. One resident, who assisted until every sheet was recovered, remarked: "It is simply our way of life here. We have a cultural duty—what we call simpatía—to be warm, friendly, and to support others, even absolute strangers, when they are in trouble."
In contrast, in New York City, USA, the commuter was ignored by passing crowds. One commuter who walked past later commented: "Everyone here has a train to catch and a high-pressure job to get to. The pace of life is incredibly fast, and you can't survive if you stop for every minor mishap. Besides, the person should have secured their files properly in the first place."
Identify two psychological issues related to helping behaviour raised by the article above. Support your answer with evidence from the article.
105 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Responses to people in need, covering Piliavin et al. (1969): Subway Samaritan and Levine et al. (2001): Cross-cultural altruism. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.