East Carolinian

Issue date: 6/10/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: google

Many people are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. The story tells of a man who has an unfortunate turn of luck and is helped by an unlikely neighbor. This story has impacted our nation to the point where laws have been made to protect and aid those in "Samaritan-esque" situations.

Good Samaritan laws in the United States protect those who choose to aid others who are injured or ill, from wrongful death lawsuits. These laws have been enacted due to the astounding number of suits that have resulted due to unfortunate circumstances.

The title of the law comes from the parable of the Good Samaritan in the Christian Bible in the book of Luke. This story has religious, social and moral implications that can and have been tested in numerous ways. However, the East Carolinian decided to put a slightly modern twist on this age-old scenario, to test how the Good Samaritan parable would apply to two types of people -- those who are hot and those who are not.

The East Carolinian tested this parable with a willing yet secret female participant over the course of two days.

On day one of the Samaritan experiment, the participant was dressed in provocative clothing and positioned in three areas in Greenville that are popular spots for college students. The participant was told to first fall repeatedly and to see who came to her aid. In each of the three locations, a male "neighbor" helped her immediately.

Subsequently, the participant was then asked to crawl around on the floor as if she was looking for something and to see if anyone then came to her aid. Again, in the three locations, male subjects immediately joined the participant on the floor to retrieve what she had "lost."

Day two of the experiment brought the participant out in baggy sweatpants, glasses and messy hair. The conditions were as before, the participant was instructed to first fall repeatedly, and then pretend to have lost something on the floor. The participant repeated her acts as she had on the day before; however, she was not helped on this day.

The implications of this social experiment are astounding.

According to a 2007 press release at www.responsesource.com, " attractive" people are 68 percent more likely to be helped in distress situations compared to "unattractive" people. Who and what is attractive or unattractive was not fully disclosed.

However, in this experiment, it is clear short skirts and long legs played a factor.

According to Roger Dobson of The Independent UK, "Those who consoled themselves with the thought that there is more to life than being really good looking are in for a shock, for the beautiful people are not just pleasing on the eye. It seems they are also wealthier, more successful and much easier to get along with."

Studies have also shown that "attractive" people earn almost 12 percent more than the "ugly Bettys" of the world.

"Good looks have what social scientists call the "halo effect." Because someone is attractive, we assign many other positive attributes to him or her that have nothing to do with looks," said Dobson.

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