Why is the bystander effect important
What Is the Bystander Effect?
ever wonder why even in a crowd no one
seems to step in when someone is bullied
or help someone that is feeling unwell
the answer is the bystander effect the
bystander effect is a strange
psychological phenomenon the more people
there are around the less likely
bystanders are to intervene in an
emergency situation one explanation is
that the diffusion of responsibility
among multiple bystanders leads each
person to believe someone else will step
forward and take action the effect is
likely also bolstered by bystanders
assuming other people such as doctors or
police officers are more qualified to
help fearing harm and worrying their
intervention will be unneeded or
unwanted loaned bystanders are more
likely to notice a victim than
bystanders and groups this is because
when people are together social norms
dictate that we focus on each other and
pay less attention to our surroundings
once a bystander does notice the victim
they might look at other people nearby
to interpret the situation if no one
else is reacting the bystander might
conform and do nothing there may be an
assumption that the other bystanders
have more knowledge about the given
situation and are behaving appropriately
if the bystander does deem the situation
in emergency and think someone should do
something they then have to contemplate
their personal responsibility feelings
of obligation and empathy could be
increased if the bystander has medical
or self-defense training if they know
the victim and if they believe the
victim deserves help the final step is
actually deciding to help either by
intervening directly or contacting the
authorities finally the bystander effect
has been overcome however a recent
studies suggests the bystander effect
can prevent ideas concerns and opinions
from reaching upper management in the
workplace if an employee is confident
information is widely known and
discussed among other employees a
diffusion of responsibility lowers the
chance that they will tell their manager
the information researchers call this
The Voice bystander effect for
Scientific American
I'm Tim Palmieri
