In 1973, John Darley and Daniel Baston of Princeton University decided to research the effects of different time constraints on a person's willingness to help someone in need. In their study “From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping Behavior” they chose to study a group particularly known for caring for the “least of these,” seminary students (Darley & Baston, 1973 ). These students were assigned the task of preparing a message on the biblical story of the Good Samaritan and then were convinced that they had a certain time limit, rush or peace of mind. The experimenter then observed how many people from these groups would stop to help a stranger clearly in need as they were on their way to deliver the message. Their results showed that even seminary students, when in a hurry, stopped only 10% of the time to help a stranger in need (Darley & Baston, 1973). The main hypothesis tested in this study is that “People who encounter a possible helping situation when they are in a hurry will be less likely to offer help than people who are not in a hurry.” (Darley & Baston, 1973, p.101-102). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This experiment fits into a broader field of social psychology, the study of helping behavior. Helping behavior is a branch of social psychology that studies explanations of why people voluntarily help an individual or group (Darley & Baston, 1973). This hypothesis examines how this behavior is modified when different levels of haste are imposed on a subject. Understanding the implications of being in a hurry or constantly busy on others in society can help explain some of the reasoning why people interact in certain ways. The results of this hypothesis could also provide insights into how homeless people and other people in need are treated in contexts such as cities, environments where people interacting are generally more hurried or busy. In social psychology, it can help develop new theories in the study of helping behaviors that are more focused on external factors and less on the individual personality. The operationalization process defines the measurement of variables that are not quantitative in nature (Darley & Baston, 1973). “The independent variables in this study were the degree to which the subject was told to hurry to get to the other building and the speech he was expected to give when he got there” (Darley & Baston, 1973, p. 102). For the first independent variable, the level at which the subject was told to hurry, one of three scripts was read to determine the level of time constraint placed on the subject. The level of haste was measured as low, intermediate, or high (Darley & Baston, 1973). The second independent variable was whether the subject was assigned a talk about the Good Samaritan or careers after graduating from seminary. “The dependent variable was whether and how the subject helped the victim” (Darley & Baston, 1973, p.102). The level of help was divided into a score from 0 to 5 based on whether help was provided to the person perceived as needy (Darley & Baston, 1973). Helping the victim was considered any score from 2 to 5, and not helping was 0 or 1 (Darley & Baston, 1973). As discussed above, the measurements were divided into two main categories, those assigned to the Good Sarmatian message and those assigned to the career message, so.