Informative Essay on Bystander Effect

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What is the bystander effect?

The phenomenon which explains the likeliness of a person to take some sort of action to help someone in distress depending on the number of people present in the scene is regarded as the bystander effect.

If we witnessed an emergency situation which is happening in front of us, it is obvious that we would take some sort of action. But many researchers and psychologists argue that perhaps it is not that the number of people in the scene influences how you are going to respond. A simple explanation of this phenomenon is that he/she is more likely to feel responsible for taking some kind of action when there are fewer people on the scene or an individual is alone. On the other hand, if there are many people, there occurs a diffusion of responsibility and no single person is entirely responsible which then causes inaction.

After the 1964 killing of Kitty Genovese in New York City, this idea was popularized, giving rise to the term, ‘Genovese Syndrome.’ John Darley and Bibb Latane invented the word bystander effect in 1969 to refer to the effect of such social pressures on people’s emergency responses.

Two major factors of bystander effect:

There are two major factors that lead to the bystander effect:

Diffusion of Responsibility:

The people in the crowd should not feel any kind of obligation to take action because there are other people present on the scene, as the sense of responsibility is split among the total number of people present.

Behaving in Socially Accepted Ways:

When a passerby looks at the crowd to decide what he/she should do and sees the crowd not reacting, he/she takes it as a sign that they are not obligated to take any kind of action on the situation. Thus, behaving in the crowd’s accepted way.

Example:

If I witness an accident on a street, the person on a bicycle was hit by a car and the person is severely injured and crying for help. If the street is empty and I am the only person to witness such an incident, I feel obliged to help him in distress. I immediately try to help the injured person. However, if the incident occurs in a busy street with 10 or more people, I automatically feel less obliged to take any sort of action because more other people are present at the incident so, I do not feel any sort of pressure related to the incident.

We have noticed bystander effects in everyday life for example Bullying. Since there are witnesses who do nothing, bullied people sometimes feel much more isolated and alone. The person being targeted felt that bystanders don’t care or agree with what is happening when no one gets involved. Even though they agree that bullying is incorrect, a bystander does not want to involve. They may be afraid of retaliation or of making themselves the victim of bullying. They could fear that it could have negative social effects to get involved.

5 Basic Steps in understanding bystander effect:

Based on suggestions by Latane and Darley, 1970. 5 steps are given for each decision as follows:

1) Noticing, or failing to notice, that something unusual is happening:

Obviously, an emergency is clearly an unwanted and unexpected occurrence and there is no sure way to predict or schedule how best to respond. If something suddenly occurs like someone coughing or screaming, we immediately observe or notice the situation and what has happened good or bad. If we are asleep, thinking something else, or concentrating on something different. So, we simply don’t know or fail to notice that something strange is going on. For example, if someone is screaming loudly coming from your neighbor’s house you probably notice and call the police.

2) Correctly interpreting an event as an emergency:

In step 1 we notice and pay attention to what happened but we have only limited or incomplete information about what exactly is happening. Most of the time, whenever we notice something that catches our attention it turns out something familiar that does not require our actions. When a person is not completely sure about the situation, they wait for further information. The involvement of numerous witnesses cannot only prevent helping not because of the diffusion of responsibility but also because misinterpreting situations and behaving improperly is very embarrassing. Strangers might think that you are overreacting to the situation in a stupid way. That is why some people prefer to hold back and do nothing when they are confused about what is happening.

Individual surrounded by a group of strangers to hesitate and do nothing is based on what is known as pluralistic ignorance. Since none of the observers know for sure what’s going on, each relies on the others to provide indications. Each person is less likely to react if the others do not respond.

3) Deciding that it is your responsibility to provide help:

If the situation is clear, you should accept responsibility to help. Many witnesses are present in the situation, but no one is willing to take responsibility only one bystander, usually takes charge because there is no alternative. Accept that it is a duty to help others in an emergency situation.

4) Deciding that you have the knowledge and/or skills to act:

When a person accepts the responsibility in step 3 then a prosocial response cannot occur until or unless the person knows how to help. It is a responsibility to help in the common situation for example if someone falls on the stairs you are able to help that person to get up. If a special emergency that only a specific bystander will help for example if a medical emergency occurs someone’s nurse or doctor is the one who is able to help not any engineer.

5) Making the final decision to provide help:

Even if a bystander follows and passes the first four steps in the decision process, support does not occur until he or she makes the final decision to participate in a helpful act. Helping at this final stage may be prevented by concerns about possible negative effects. In reality, future helpers are interested in balancing the positive and negative implications of helping. The benefits of being helpful are mostly provided by the helper’s feelings and values.

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