ANSWERING THE CALL FOR PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Prosocial behavior toward strangers was investigated via responses to wrong-number messages on telephone answering machines. Two hundred for ty anonymous participants were randomly selected from the telephone di rectory of a midsized, midwestern community. Each participant received a message that was intended for someone else. The importance and urge ncy of the message were varied-low, medium, high, and high with a prod (a direct request for help). Overall, the findings revealed a higher than anticipated prosocial response. The number of return calls increa sed as a function of the urgency and importance of the misdirected mes sage.