- Hey, everyone, it's Dr. Jen,
and welcome back to "60-Second Psychology",
where I talk about a theory, concept,
or psychological phenomenon in just 60 seconds.
Today's topic, The Bystander Effect.
If you witnessed a person in trouble right in front of you,
you take action to help the person, right?
Maybe not.
The Bystander Effect
is a strange psychological phenomenon
that's been observed in groups of people.
It's characterized by the un unlikeliness of a group
to help an individual in distress.
The bigger the group of witnesses,
the less likely people in the group will be to help.
Here's why.
Studies by psychologists Bibb Latane and John Darley
found that the amount of time it takes witnesses to offer
or seek help when a stranger is in need
increases when there are more witnesses nearby.
Latane also found that the percentage of witnesses
that offer help decreases
the more witnesses that are around.
His 1969 study found that 70% of people
would help a woman in distress
when they were the only witness,
but only about 40% offered assistance
when other people were also present.
The Bystander Effect could have
two major contributing factors.
First, diffusion of responsibility,
which means that because there are others around,
individuals don't feel as much pressure to take action.
Second, social acceptance may have a role.
When other witnesses fail to react to an incident,
individuals often take this as a social signal
that a response is not needed or not appropriate.
To summarize, emergencies are often chaotic and confusing.
When more witnesses are around,
we may often look to others to react
or determine the appropriate behavior.
The good news is that recently,
psychologists have found that if one person in a crowd
does help a person in distress,
then everybody else in that crowd
is also more likely to help.
Have you ever been in a bystander situation?
Were you the first to act?
Did you hold back,
or were you inspired by someone else swinging into action?
Another thing, if you're ever that person in distress,
try to focus on one person in the crowd,
lock eyes and ask for help.
Often, this will spur the crowd into action.
Let me know what you think in the comments below,
and as always,
please like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video,
and I'll see you in the next one.
Bye.
(bright subtle music)