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examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: Expertise and Helping
When someone is in trouble, who is most likely to step forward and help? Research suggests that people with expertise relevant to the situation are more likely to offer assistance. This expertise effect plays a crucial role in understanding prosocial behaviour - actions intended to benefit others.
Key Definitions:
People with expertise are more likely to help because they:
Expertise can overcome the bystander effect because:
This influential study examined how nursing expertise affected helping behaviour in an emergency situation.
Method: Participants were either nursing students or psychology students. They witnessed a staged emergency where someone appeared to have a seizure while they were completing a questionnaire in another room.
Results: 100% of junior and senior nursing students helped the victim, compared to only 40% of psychology students.
Conclusion: Those with relevant expertise (nursing students) were significantly more likely to help in a medical emergency than those without such expertise.
This study demonstrates that having relevant knowledge and skills makes people more likely to intervene in emergencies related to their area of expertise.
While not specifically about expertise, Darley and Latané's classic studies on the bystander effect help us understand why experts might be more likely to help.
Darley and Latané (1968) found that the presence of others reduces the likelihood of an individual helping in an emergency. This happens due to:
Experts are less affected by these factors because their knowledge gives them confidence and a clearer sense of responsibility.
When experts recognise that their specific skills are needed, they're more likely to help. For example, a lifeguard at the beach will quickly respond to drowning, even when off-duty.
People with expertise often have clearer expectations about their responsibility to help. Doctors, for instance, take an oath to provide care when needed.
Experts often identify strongly with their professional role, making helping behaviour part of their self-concept and social identity.
Understanding the role of expertise in helping behaviour has practical applications in how we organise emergency response:
Society relies on trained experts (paramedics, firefighters, police) who have both the expertise and clear responsibility to help in emergencies.
First aid and CPR training programmes increase the number of "experts" in the general population, making it more likely someone will help in an emergency.
Based on research, we can identify a model for how expertise leads to helping behaviour:
In 2009, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger successfully landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after both engines failed, saving all 155 people on board.
His expertise as a pilot with over 40 years of flying experience, including specific training in water landings, allowed him to:
This real-world example shows how expertise can be crucial in emergency situations where helping behaviour is needed.
While expertise generally increases helping behaviour, several factors can limit this effect:
Expertise plays a significant role in determining who will help in emergency situations. People with relevant knowledge and skills are:
Understanding the relationship between expertise and helping behaviour can help us design better emergency response systems and training programmes that increase prosocial behaviour in society.
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