The Bystander Effect Social Experiment

From Empathy to Apathy: The Bystander Effect Revisited - Ruud Hortensius, Beatrice de Gelder, 2018 When people are asked whether they would spontaneously assist a person in an emergency situation, almost everyone will reply positively. Although we all imagine ourselves heroes, the fact is that many people refrain from helping in real life, especially when we are aware that other people are present at the scene. In the late 1960s, John M. Darley and Bibb Latané (1968) initiated an extensive research program on this so-called “bystander effect.” In their seminal article, they found that any person who was the sole bystander helped, but only 62% of the participants intervened when they were part of a larger group of five bystanders. Following these first findings, many researchers consistently observed a reduction in helping behavior in the presence of others (Fischer et al., 2011; Latané & Nida, 1981).

How to Overcome the Bystander Effect Psychologists have long been interested in exactly why and when we help other people. There has also been a tremendous amount of interest in the reasons why we sometimes don't help others. The bystander effect is a social phenomenon that occurs when people fail to help those in need due to the presence of other people.

How to Break the Bystander Effect They could have left it to someone else. An Army veteran blocked a shooter in Oregon from entering his classroom. Three friends on a high-speed train from Paris to Amsterdam helped stop a gunman wielding an AK-47. Reducing the Bystander Effect As discussed, there are a number of factors that magnify the Bystander Effect. Fortunately, there are also a number of factors that weaken it. Once again, factors can be divided into characteristics of the situation, and of the people.

What is the Bystander Effect and How Can We Overcome it? You may think that you are more likely to receive life-saving care if you experience a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in a crowd or busy area – but the opposite is actually true. This is due to the bystander effect; a natural phenomenon where the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely any individual is going to act to provide help. It’s a complex phenomenon but one we actively need to combat in order to support people in distress. Understanding the Bystander Effect When an emergency situation occurs, people are more likely to take action if there are fewer people around. This reaction takes place for a number of reasons, including assumptions that:

Diffusion of Responsibility Reduces Sense of Agency and Outcome Monitoring