Helping behavior was studied as a function of urban density. Four requests for help (for the time, for directions, for change of a quarter, and for the person's name) were solicited in three areas differing in population density (downtown in the Canadian city of Toronto, in the suburbs of the same city, in a small town outside of that city). On each measure the percentage of helping behavior decreased linearly as urban density increased. Normative data from New York City were also compared and found very similar to those from downtown Toronto. An absence of sex differences in either giving or eliciting help was noted.
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