3 May 2019
Behavioral Studies 351
Kiley Rogers
A Study in Human Behavior Under Unexpected Circumstances
Hypothesis: When confronted with unexpected circumstances, most people are helpful and polite and would help a person through a difficult situation.
Methodology: Wear easily removable clothes and restrain myself in a public park with a notice offering passersby to release me or remove an item of clothing.
Process: I did not clear this with any professors, police, or anybody else. The circumstances needed to be totally random and unexpected to get true test results. I started by wearing a string bikini that included a tied bottom. I put on buckled sandals, a wrap skirt and a top that buttoned down the front and had shoulder straps that buttoned. I went to my chosen park and found a path I had been watching, knowing it was lightly traveled and out of sight of people in the commons area of the park. A few hundred feet up the path I hung a handcuff key from a branch, set up my sign, handcuffed my right leg to a tree, left leg to another tree so my feet were about a foot apart, slipped on a blindfold, and then handcuffed my wrists behind my back. My sign read, "Doing a science experiment. Please put the key into my handcuffs or take an item of clothing."
Results: Although blindfolded, I could sometimes tell gender from the sound of how people walked or from them talking before they reached a point where they could see me. I was standing for some time and being bothered by insects when I heard the first people approach. It was two male voices and I heard their exclamations when they first saw me. The footsteps approached and there was a pause, perhaps while they read the sign and debated their action. Now I was disappointed my experiment would end so soon and was thinking I would need to reset and have a further go when I felt hands at my skirt. My confusion soon turned to surprise as the button was released, then the inner button, and I was left without a skirt. I heard a cellphone camera shutter, then some laughter, and then their footsteps and voices were retreating as they continued on the path. Well, that person is not one of the kind and generous people who will prove my hypothesis. The situation was now even more unexpected for the next person to find me.