Interpersonal Gaze and Helping Behavior

Summary A field experiment was conducted assessing the effects of interpersonal gaze upon helping behavior. Three hundred twenty men and women were approached by a male or female confederate with his arm in a sling who, upon dropping some coins, either looked or did not look at the bystander. The results indicated that gaze was associated with increased helping when both victim and bystander were female and decreased helping when the two were males. The findings of the study suggest that interpersonal gaze may be interpreted differently by the sexes during dyadic helping interactions.