Bystander Effect

Bystander Apathy and Effect The bystander apathy, or bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon that happens when somebody doesn't offer help to a victim when other people are present. There is an inverse relationship between the number of bystanders and the probability of help. This implies that the likelihood of receiving help reduces with an increase in the number of bystanders. There are several explanations for the bystander effect. Although social psychologists have focused on two leading explanations: social influence and diffusion of responsibility. This paper discusses the psychology behind the bystander effects and its impacts on society. (Wikipedia Contributors) A woman by the name of the Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered on Friday 13 March in 1964 in Queens, New York. The 28 year old was arriving home from a late night shift at work, when she was suddenly by a knife by a man named Winston Moseley. She screamed for help, but nobody did anything because they did not want to “get involved.” Winston left her but later returned to finish off what he started. When the police were eventually called, she was already dead. This all took place within half an hour, and thirty eight people were witnesses, but not one decided to help. (“Bystander Apathy”) John Darley and Bibb Latane were the first to demonstrate the bystander effects in 1968 after their
If the person is to intervene they must first notice the event. Then they must handle the situation as an emergency, and they must decide that it is their personal responsibility to act. At each of these preliminary steps, the bystander of the emergency can remove themselves from the decision process cause them to fail to help. They easily can fail to notice the event, fail to interpret the event as an emergency, or can fail to assume the responsibility to take action. (“Bystander