Bystander effect

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This article is about the psychological phenomenon. In an unrelated use, the term bystander effect is also used in radiobiology to describe the effects of radiation on cells that are adjacent to those directly affected by radiation.

The bystander effect is a phenomenon that has been noted by psychologists where individuals who see a person in need of help are less likely to assist them when someone else is present than when they are alone. It is also known as bystander apathy.

Solitary individuals will typically intervene if another person is in need of help: this is known as bystander intervention. However, researchers were surprised to find that help is less likely to be given if more people are present.

The failure of a large number of witnesses to act during the half-hour murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 shocked the world, and was the impetus for investigation into the bystander effect. For this reason, the name Genovese syndrome or Genovese effect was used to describe the phenomenon at the time. The killing of Deletha Word in 1995 in front of a crowd who failed to intervene, as well as the James Bulger murder case, appear to have been other well-publicized cases of the effect.

A 1968 study by Darley and Latane first demonstrated the bystander effect in the laboratory. The most common explanation is that, with others present, observers all assume that someone else is going to intervene and so they each individually refrain from doing so. People may also assume that other bystanders may be more qualified to help, such as being a doctor or police officer, and their intervention would thus be unneeded. Beneath this is a fear of "losing face" in front of the other bystanders from being superseded by a "superior" helper or even from the possibility of offering unwanted assistance. They may also assume that since the other bystanders have not yet intervened, no intervention is necessary.

One way to reduce the bystander effect is for the victim to pick a specific person in the crowd to appeal to for help rather than appealing to the larger group generally.

Table of contents

1 See also
2 References
3 External links

References

J. M. Darley & B. Latane. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 8, 377-383.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. ISBN 0316316962.

External links

http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/soc_psych/latane_bystand.html

http://www.psych.nwu.edu/psych/people/faculty/sherman/lecture15/

http://bama.ua.edu/~sprentic/672%20outline-bystander%20effect.html

John M. Darley's home page