title: Places for help: micro-level variation in helping behavior toward a stranger.
abstract: A field experiment was conducted to explore whether certain urban places have an influence on helpfulness. Places semantically associated with the idea of love may act as primes and trigger increased helpfulness. Passersby (96 men, 96 women) happened upon a female confederate with a "leg injury" who inadvertently dropped personal items. The experiment took place in a common street or near a hospital entrance, a Catholic church, or a flower shop. Results indicated that helpfulness increased near a hospital or flower shop. These results are explained in light of automatic activation of normative behavior.
authors.affiliation: 1 Université Paris Descartes.
authors.forename: Lubomir
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lamy
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fischer-Lokou
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guéguen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002947:Cities; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged