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The bystander effect is a counter-intuitive phenomenon wherein an increase in the number of witnesses to an emergency or crime corresponds with a decreased likelihood that any single individual will attempt to assist the victim.

Bystander Effect

A person faints on a busy sidewalk packed with dozens of people, and it takes several minutes before anyone offers assistance. In a separate incident, a person faints on a nearly empty sidewalk with only one other person present, and that individual immediately rushes to help. The difference in the speed of help offered in these two situations is best explained by which of the following phenomena?

Diffusion of responsibility is a psychological theory suggesting that in an emergency setting, each individual witness feels less personal obligation to intervene when others are present. This divided sense of accountability is the primary mechanism hypothesized to cause the bystander effect.

Diffusion of Responsibility

To test the bystander effect hypothesis, Darley and Latané created a simulated emergency in a laboratory. University students isolated in small rooms believed they were participating in an intercom discussion when one 'student' (a pre-recorded voice) appeared to have an epileptic seizure. The researchers manipulated the perceived number of witnesses. The results demonstrated that as the number of perceived witnesses increased, the percentage of participants who left the room to seek help dropped significantly from 85% to 62% to 31%.

Darley and Latané Simulated Emergency Experiment

The Parable of the 38 Witnesses is the widely taught but historically inaccurate story of Kitty Genovese, a New York woman whose murder was supposedly watched by 38 bystanders who did nothing to intervene. While this standard narrative inspired foundational research on the bystander effect, scholars note it is misleading, as fewer witnesses existed and some did attempt to help; focusing solely on this parable may obscure other important conditions for collective emergency response.

The Parable of the 38 Witnesses

Which of the following best defines the bystander effect?

A researcher studying helping behavior finds that a person who pretends to faint in a crowded subway car with 15 passengers is less likely to receive assistance than a person who pretends to faint in a nearly empty car with only 1 other passenger. This finding is consistent with what psychologists call the bystander effect.

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