Status Symbols and Prosocial Behavior: The Effect of the Victim's Car on Helping

Summary The results of studies of the effects of status on helping have varied when automobiles have been used to denote status. The present study (N = 60 men and women passersby) showed that a female victim was more likely to receive help when she was associated with a high status car than when she was associated with a low status one. This finding was due mainly to the responses of male rather than female Ss.