"Drop It" Experiment
By: Zoey
Hypothesis
This was the original hypothesis about how males and females would react to this experiment.
Female (the researcher)
| Female (the subjects) | Male (the subjects) |
|---|---|
| Females are mostly nicer to females but a lot of females are too shy so I guess some of them will help and some of them will think about it but are too shy to help | I think some males will choose not to help because they do not want to be misunderstood as a pervert. There may be a few males who will help depends on the beauty of the female. |
| (60% will help / 40% won’t help) | (20% will help / 80% won’t help) |
Male (the researcher)
| Female (the subjects) | Male (the subjects) |
|---|---|
| I think females will still think about helping but they may be too shy or think they (the male) can pick up by themselves and choose not to help. | Melas treat melas as brothers also they can be less worried about being misunderstood as perverts so I guess more males will help males. |
| (40% will help / 60% won’t help) | (75% will help / 25% won’t help) |
Data result
1: Student age / 2: Working people age / 3: Elderly (65 years old or older)
Female (the researcher)
Male (the researcher)
Discussion
Through these experiments, two of my hypotheses were totally different from the actual results. Initially, the researcher believed that most males would be willing to help most males because males treat the same gender as brothers, but the data shows that males are the least willing to help the same gender. The second hypothesis the researcher guessed that over 50% of the females were willing to help the same gender because females are mostly nicer to females, but the actual result was only 37.5%. The other two hypotheses are more accurate, the researcher thinks that the number of people willing to help the opposite sex will be fewer, which conforms to the actual results.
The experiment shows that males aren’t willing to help others, especially the elderly males don't(65 years old or older), On the other hand, females are willing to help others across all age groups. According to the Big Five personality traits, females have higher levels of Agreeableness, presented friendliness, compassion, and are more willing to consider and help others, and the result of this survey shows that this is true. On the other hand, although males are higher in extraversion, sociable, and confident according to the Big Five, this does not mean males are more willing to help others, which wasn't consistent with the experimental results.
During the experiment, the reaction of one couple gave the researcher a deep impression. When the girlfriend was about to help, her boyfriend immediately stopped her from helping, and swiftly(迅速的) pulled her away, which influenced the actual behavior of the female. This experiment tells us that most males may be more selfish(especially older males) when it comes to helping others. however, females are most likely to be kind and generous and help others.