Definition
- Bystanderism: when people do not help someone else in need.
The Bystander Effect
The Bystander Effect is the psychological term that refers to the phenomenon where individuals do not help in an emergency situation as others are present. The more people witness the same situation, the less likely the victim gets help.
There are reasons as for why this occurs:
- Diffusion of Responsibility
- When there are many people witnessing an incident, individuals will reason that others should act first.
- People have already assumed that others have intervened and
therefore it is not a personal responsibility to intervene.
- Informational Social Influence
- In ambiguous situations, when we are not sure how to react, we look to others around us for information on what to do.
- Pluralistic Ignorance
- The tendency to rely on the reactions of others. If no one else reacts, the the individual will not react either.
- Sensory Overload
- An alternative explanation which posits that we have limited cognitive energy for our sensory inputs. We will block out information that is not personally relevant.
- Explains why people in crowded cities are less likely to help.
