bystander effect
Summary
The bystander effect is the tendency for a person to be less likely to help someone in need when other people are present. It is explained by diffusion of responsibility and by reading others' inaction as a sign nothing is wrong (pluralistic ignorance). More bystanders usually means less help from each.
Detail
Meaning: In social psychology, the presence of other witnesses lowers the chance that any one person helps in an emergency. Two accounts are standard. Diffusion of responsibility: each person feels less personally responsible as the group grows. Pluralistic ignorance: people look to others for cues, see calm faces, and conclude the situation is not an emergency. Fear of embarrassment (evaluation apprehension) can add to both. Darley and Latané studied it after the Kitty Genovese case.
On the MCAT: A passage describes an experiment in which participants believe they are alone, or one of several others, while someone appears to be in distress. Predict that helping rate falls and the delay before helping rises as the number of perceived witnesses increases. Questions may ask which concept explains the result, or what would raise helping: an unambiguous emergency, a direct request to one named person, or a bystander with relevant skills.
Common confusion: Do not mix it up with social loafing, which is reduced effort by individuals on a shared task where contributions are pooled. The bystander effect concerns helping in an emergency. Also, diffusion of responsibility is one mechanism, not a synonym. The effect is a statistical tendency, so people in groups sometimes do help.
Sources
- Social Psychology (Aronson, Wilson, Akert)
- Psychology (Myers)
- Social Psychology (Myers)
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.