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The bystander-effect: A meta-analytic review on bystander intervention in dangerous and non-dangerous emergencies.
Abstract
Research on bystander intervention has produced a great number of studies showing that the presence of other people in a critical situation reduces the likelihood that an individual will help. As the last systematic review of bystander research was published in 1981 and was not a quantitative meta-analysis in the modern sense, the present meta-analysis updates the knowledge about the bystander effect and its potential moderators. The present work (a) integrates the bystander literature from the 1960s to 2010, (b) provides statistical tests of potential moderators, and (c) presents new theoretical and empirical perspectives on the novel finding of non-negative bystander effects in certain dangerous emergencies as well as situations where bystanders are a source of physical support for the potentially intervening individual. In a fixed effects model, data from over 7,700 participants and 105 independent effect sizes revealed an overall effect size of g = -0.35. The bystander effect was attenuated when situations were perceived as dangerous (compared with non-dangerous), perpetrators were present (compared with non-present), and the costs of intervention were physical (compared with non-physical). This pattern of findings is consistent with the arousal-cost-reward model, which proposes that dangerous emergencies are recognized faster and more clearly as real emergencies, thereby inducing higher levels of arousal and hence more helping. We also identified situations where bystanders provide welcome physical support for the potentially intervening individual and thus reduce the bystander effect, such as when the bystanders were exclusively male, when they were naive rather than passive confederates or only virtually present persons, and when the bystanders were not strangers.
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“In 2009, in Munich, Germany, 50-year-old Dominik Brunner was killed when he stepped up to help young children from two 18-year old assailants (Geyer-Schulz, Ovelgönne, Sonnenbichler, 2010; Fischer et al. 2011).”
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“This effect has been replicated many times (Fischer et al., 2011), with the results suggesting that as group size increases, the odds that any one person will help the victim decrease.”
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“…低面孔可信度 启动组 4.54 ± 0.58 4.52 ± 0.37 助人意愿 控制组 3.69 ± 0.42 3.34 ± 0.49 启动组 63.40 ± 6.99 60.23 ± 6.50 捐助金额 控制组 50.16 ± 7.08 40.71 ± 6.10 为检验面孔可信度和依恋类型对助人行为的 影响, 将被试在社会赞许性量表上的得分作为协变 量, 对助人意愿和捐助金额分别进行重复测量方差 分析。 对于助人意愿, 面孔可信度主效应显著(F (1, 70) = 5.89, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.08), 个体在求助者高面…”
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“Interestingly, some responders perceive the presence of others as moral support, especially when people know each other, which reduces the indifferent attitude of lay responders [48].”
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The role of personality in whistleblowing: An integrative framework
Fischer, M. V., Thielmann, I., & Gollwitzer, M. (2024) · Personality Science · doi:10.1177/27000710241257432 · Cited by 5
“This phenomenon closely resembles the “ bystander effect ” in emergency situations — the phenomenon that every single observer of an emergency is less likely to help with an increasing number of bystanders (Latan´e & Darley, 1970; for a meta-analysis, see Fischer et al., 2011).”
Cheon, S. H., Reeve, J., Yoo, K.-E., Song, Y.-G., Marsh, H. W., Jang, H.-R., & Lee, Y. (2025) · Journal of School Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2025.101431 · Cited by 8
“In the social psychological literature on helping behavior, ignoring aggression and allowing it to proceed unchecked against a victim is called the bystander-apathy effect (Fischer et al., 2011).”
Does sexual orientation of bullying target influence bystander response?
Meglich, P. A., Porter, T. H., & Day, N. E. (2020) · The Irish Journal of Management · doi:10.2478/ijm-2010-0005 · Cited by 5
“, 2019), medical emergency (Fischer et al., 2011), cyberbullying (Koehler and Weber, 2018), and school bullying settings (Jenkins and Nickerson, 2019), there is far less in the workplace bullying context (Mulder et al.”
BackgroundMicroaggressions in social work classrooms: Recognition and responses of BSW bystanders
Mirick, R. G., & Davis, A. (2021) · Journal of Teaching in Social Work · doi:10.1080/08841233.2021.1925387 · Cited by 5
Zahnow, R., Chen, C.-S., & Corcoran, J. (2023) · Applied spatial analysis and policy · doi:10.1007/s12061-023-09507-0 · Cited by 6
Burrows, B., Abellera, C., & Markowitz, E. M. (2023) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change · doi:10.1002/wcc.837 · Cited by 6
The devil is in the detail: reconceptualising bystander reactions to online political hostility
Hansen, T. M., Lindekilde, L., & Karg, S. T. (2023) · Behavior and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2023.2282653 · Cited by 2
“This binary understanding of online bystander reactions has long dominated the literature on online bystander behaviour, perhaps as a remnant of its ties to the literature on o ffl ine bystander reactions (Fischer et al. 2011).”
The convergence between defence and care in mammals
Vieira, J. B., & Olsson, A. (2024) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.011 · Cited by 7
Levine, M. (2025) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12896 · Cited by 5
“There have been challenges to this idea over the years, particularly from the meta-analysis conducted by Fischer and colleagues (Fischer et al., 2011).”
Predicting Successful Responses to Emergencies: the Emergency Responsiveness Scale
Dicke-Bohmann, A. K., & Cox, C. B. (2015) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-015-9402-2 · Cited by 5
Cooperation or Conflict: Host Manipulation in Multiple Infections
Hafer, N., & Milinski, M. (2015) · Parasitology research monographs · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22936-2_4 · Cited by 5
Kyriakou, M., & Chrysanthou, Y. (2018) · Motion in Games · doi:10.1145/3274247.3274509 · Cited by 5
“In social psychology there are several studies exploring the participant-bystander behavior [Levine and Crowther 2008] [Fischer et al. 2011] [Levine et al. 2005].”
BackgroundAltruistic responses to the most vulnerable involve sensorimotor processes
Vickers, B. D., Seidler, R. D., Stansfield, R. B., Weissman, D. H., & Preston, S. D. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1140986 · Cited by 7
“A more direct test of the Altruistic Response Model is seen in bystander apathy paradigms, in which the probability of helping decreases with increasing numbers of bystanders (30, 47).”
BackgroundCreating safe environments: optimal acoustic alarming of laypeople in fire prevention
von der Linde, M., Herbster, C., Dobel, C., Festag, S., & Thielsch, M. T. (2023) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2023.2191915 · Cited by 5
“This corresponds to findings of situational ambiguity in motivation research, showing that non-ambiguous emergency situations enable quick reactions (Fischer et al. 2011).”
BackgroundResultFAKTORY OVLIVŇUJÍCÍ OCHOTU POSKYTNOUT PRVNÍ POMOC A JEJICH VYUŽITÍ PŘI VÝUCE PRVNÍ POMOCI
Kuba, R., Sekerášová, I., & Ročková, L. (2023) · Biologie Chemie Zeměpis · doi:10.14712/25337556.2023.1.3 · Cited by 5
Characteristics of affected third parties and cooperative behavior in social dilemmas
Cardador, M. T., Northcraft, G. B., Rockmann, K. W., & Grant, B. C. (2016) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/00224545.2016.1140116 · Cited by 5
“This is an important extension given strong evidence that individual helping is often undermined in groups (Fischer et al., 2011).”
BackgroundPettersson, D., Bergquist, M., & Hagsand, A. V. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.761956 · Cited by 5
Metadata
- Authors
- Fischer, P., Krueger, J. I., Greitemeyer, T., Vogrincic, C., Kastenmüller, A., Frey, D., Heene, M., Wicher, M., & Kainbacher, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Regensburg (DE)
- Brown University (US)
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- Liverpool John Moores University (GB)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- University of Graz (AT)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2011
- Volume
- 137
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 517-537
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2107050526
- Semantic Scholar
- 43e957f87e561c4d2d65715e6fe94e872b34299e
- Cited by
- 983
- References
- 96
- Citations by year
- 2026: 73 · 2025: 80 · 2024: 86 · 2023: 85 · 2022: 82 · 2021: 97 · 2020: 85 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 68 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 60 · 2015: 50 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 88.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Regensburg Publication Server (University of Regensburg) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- German Science Foundation(DFG) (FI 938/2-1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- bystander effect, bystander intervention, helping behavior, perceived danger, physical support, confederates
- MeSH terms
- Accidents, Arousal, Emergencies, Fear, Female, Helping Behavior, Humans, Male, Social Control, Informal, Social Identification, Violence, Bias, Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic, Crime Victims
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