Role of Commitments in the Decision to Stop a Theft

Abstract

Summary A field experiment was conducted to test the relationship between previous commitments to a theft victim and a bystander's willingness to stop the thief. A pocket calculator was stolen in front of 30 bystanders under one of three experimental conditions. In one condition, the bystander was committed previously to watch the victim's calculator (First-Party Commitment). In a second treatment, the bystander made a commitment to the victim to watch the belongings of another student who earlier had been seated nearby (Second-Party Commitment). There was also a third, no-commitment group. Findings showed that direct, first-party commitments to the victim of the theft led to greater bystander intervention than no commitment or second-party commitments.