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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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“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)
In the citing paper
“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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Metadata
- 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 › Psychology › Social Psychology › 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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