Experiment finds hurried pastors fail “Good Samaritan Test”

Here’s a story about an experiment which sought to “test” the parable of the “Good Samaritan” on a group of pastors.

It found that performance was most related to two factors:

  1. Whether the pastors were intrinsically motivated by religion, or saw it as a means to an end.
  2. How rushed they were.

It found that many “failed” the “Good Samaritan test” when they were hurried.

In low hurry situations, 63% helped, medium hurry 45% and high hurry 10%

Here’s the original journal article, which requires payment to read online:

“From Jerusalem to Jericho”: A study of situational and dispositional variables in helping behavior. Darley, John M.; Batson, C. Daniel.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 27(1), Jul 1973, 100-108