Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility.
Abstract
Ss overheard an epileptic seizure. They believed either that they alone heard the emergency, or that 1 or 4 unseen others were also present. As predicted the presence of other bystanders reduced the individual's feelings of personal responsibility and lowered his speed of reporting (p < .01). In groups of size 3, males reported no faster than females, and females reported no slower when the 1 other bystander was a male rather than a female. In general, personality and background measures were not predictive of helping. Bystander inaction in real-life emergencies is often explained by apathy, alienation, and anomie. This experiment suggests that the explanation may lie more in the bystander's response to other observers than in his indifference to the victim.
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People in larger groups feel less responsible and less personally addressed, which creates a bystander effect.
“Darley and Latan e (1968) showed that people in larger groups feel less responsible and less personally addressed, which creates a bystander effect.”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as Darley and Latan e (1968)
People in larger groups feel less responsible and addressed and then stand by rather than act.
“Despite macroinfluencers' sponsored posts being exposed to a larger number of users (De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017), people in larger groups feel less responsible and addressed and then stand by rather than act (Darley and Latan e 1968).”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as Darley and Latan e 1968
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An Experimental Approach to Social Support Communications: Interactive Coping in Close Relationships
Barbee, A. P., & Cunningham, M. R. (1995) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1080/23808985.1995.11678921 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
(2013) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410605887 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
The Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Strengths
Peterson, C. (2006) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195176797.003.0003 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
The unresponsive bystander: are bystanders more responsive in dangerous emergencies?
Fischer, P., Greitemeyer, T., Pollozek, F., & Frey, D. (2005) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.297 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
There Is Nothing So Theoretical as a Good Method
Greenwald, A. G. (2012) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691611434210 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
“This controversy began with Festinger and Carlsmith’s (1959) confirmation of a surprising prediction from cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957).”
BackgroundMiller, C. (2013) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674350.001.0001 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
To Act or Not to Act, That Is the Question? Barriers and Facilitators of Bystander Intervention
Bennett, S. A., Banyard, V. L., & Garnhart, L. (2013) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260513505210 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
“While many researchers examined the factors that predict bystander behavior for a wide variety of emergency situations (e.g., Darley & Latané, 1968), much less is known about the factors that predict bystander behavior for sexual violence.”
BackgroundAccepting Inequality Deters Responsibility: How Power Distance Decreases Charitable Behavior
Winterich, K. P., & Zhang, Y. (2014) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/675927 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Ethically adrift: How others pull our moral compass from true North, and how we can fix it
Moore, C., & Gino, F. (2013) · Research in Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.riob.2013.08.001 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
“In another classic study (Darley & Latané, 1968), individuals heard a confederate having what seemed to be a severe epileptic fit in another room.”
BackgroundBanyard, V. L., & Moynihan, M. M. (2011) · Psychology of Violence · doi:10.1037/a0023544 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
The Confronting Prejudiced Responses (CPR) Model: Applying CPR in Organizations
Ashburn-Nardo, L., Morris, K. A., & Goodwin, S. A. (2008) · Academy of Management Learning & Education · doi:10.5465/amle.2008.34251671 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
“As with physical emergencies (Darley & Latane, 1968), the number of bystanders who observe a given incident in part determines This content downloaded from 149.142.206.212 on Tue, 03 Jan 2017 17:15:02 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 336 individuals' perceptions of responsibility.”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Darley, J. M., & Latane, B.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 1968
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 4, Pt.1
- Pages
- 377-383
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2171602877
- Semantic Scholar
- a17d8ee9f157ebeb2f520406c1d79346ceb532c8
- Cited by
- 3,083
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 158 · 2025: 139 · 2024: 161 · 2023: 129 · 2022: 142 · 2021: 178 · 2020: 152 · 2019: 175 · 2018: 168 · 2017: 131 · 2016: 143 · 2015: 118 · 2014: 138 · 2013: 135 · 2012: 99
- FWCI
- 113.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation
- Keywords
- bystander intervention, diffusion of responsibility, emergency situations, helping behavior, personal responsibility, group size, gender differences, apathy, anomie, alienation
- MeSH terms
- Character, Conflict, Psychological, Decision Making, Emergencies, Female, Group Processes, Group Structure, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Perception, Psychology, Social, Reaction Time, Sex Factors
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