Break The Bystander Effect

I saw a man get hit by a car yesterday afternoon. It was a small hatchback, silver in colour that wasn’t traveling fast but enough to cripple a surprised pedestrian with a walking stick. There was no screech of the brakes, but rather a dull thump followed by a shriek from the young girl behind the steering wheel. I witnessed this from the other side of a two part road crossing, and wondered why out of the five people standing near him, not one had seen if he was alright yet. Putting my hand out to stop oncoming traffic I ran towards him, and despite being one of the furthest away, arrived first. Later on Twitter I ranted,

This was shortly replied by my good friend @ajhenry,

Although I had heard of the ‘bystander effect’ many times before, I hadn’t ever been consciously aware of it. By definition it refers to a social phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency situation when other people are present. The probability of help is inversely proportional to the number of bystanders. In other words, the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.

Explanation of The Bystander Effect

As @catfishmaw explained, since the Kitty Genovese case – stabbed to death in 1964. The killing took half an hour, with 38 witnesses and not one intervened or even called the police – there has been huge amounts of psychological research in this area. Social psychologists have managed to demonstrate the effect within ‘labatories’ and now focus on two factors.

Firstly is the case of pluralistic ignorance. What happens is that people ‘monitor the reactions of other people in an emergency situation to see if others think that it is necessary to intervene. Since everyone is doing exactly the same thing (nothing), they all conclude from the inaction of others that help is not needed.’ Sounds bizarre but thinking about it you see the phenomenon everywhere. Imagine you’re inside a shopping centre, a fire alarm goes off but if no one else leaves, then neither do you. What about on a rugby pitch? A member of the other team has broken through your line of defense, if no one else is chasing him, it’s far less likely you will too.

What about a fight outside a nightclub? There are bouncers there, alongside with members of the public – you feel much less inclined to involve yourself than if it were just you. Yet in actual fact this is another reason why people may not help. ‘They may assume that other bystanders are more qualified to help, such as doctors or police officers, and that their intervention would be unneeded.’

The second major factor is known as diffusion of responsibility. During an accident, people assume that someone else is going to intervene and so are less inclined to act individually. This happens on a regular occasion within the London Underground. If a man jumps on the tracks, people at the other end of the platform feel less responsible to react because there are others closer to him.

Of course there are other possible reasons. For example bystanders may feel that it would be a risk to get involved – they might get hit by the train as well. Or that they’d lose face with friends, family and colleagues. This latter motive is very common especially when concerned with interrupting rowdy, anti-social behavior. How many times have you sat on a train and listened to Chavs (don’t know what this is?) ‘pump’ out their tinny (what they think is good) drum and bass on their phone, talking with vulgarities about one of their mate’s sister or mum? More importantly, how many times have you wanted to get a baseball bat of your own and clobber them over the head, but only to be stopped by a friend who is saying, ” don’t do it, just ignore them” ?

To make matters worse these days, there are many laws that may make the witness liable to prosecution. This worsens the bystander effect as people fear having to go to court etc. However, in some European countries (mainly the non-English speaking ones) they have a Good Samaritan Law which neutralizes this threat.

How To Diffuse The Bystander Effect

As @henryaj said, the best way of stopping the bystander effect is to be aware of it. But do you guys think about this? Have you ever experienced something like this? I have a feeling that every time you see something happening that requires assistance from other people, check to see if the bystander effect is taking place. If no one is doing anything, that does not mean nothing needs to be done. Be aware and take action as an individual. Don’t wait for the group, because the group is waiting for you. What other methods do you think exist that could prevent the Bystander Effect?

When you are the victim requiring assistance, point to an individual and ask for their help specifically. When the man was hit by the car, I experienced this for when asked, “has anyone called an ambulance?” no one replied. Only when I turned to a lady on my right and requested that she personally dialed for emergency services  did she act. So when you need help, shout out “hey you, in the red t-shirt, please stop this chav from punching me!”

Make a habit out of taking action. Now you know why people don’t, it serves as a motive for you to act. Be a good samaritan, help save a life.

Other Reading

• “Don’t Just Stand There – Do Something”, Safety Canada, January 2004.
• The Bystander’s Dilemma, Greater Good 3(2), Fall/Winter 2006-2007.
• “I kept saying, ‘Help me, help me.’ But no one did.” by Tara McCartney, The Guardian, August 4, 2005.

It’d be very interesting to see your views on this topic, especially any similar experiences or just points of view. If you’re reading this article on Facebook, then please comment here. Don’t forget to check out our free online forum with over 1,400 members.

Note from Daniel:

Tom, great write up for this article. The bystander effect is really quite something. I too have had experiences in which people just didn’t seem to react. Once as I stepped out of a club, one car recklessly hit a parked car from the side and just took off. I was two blocks away when I saw this and everyone just looked and commenting on what they should do. I immediately ran toward the car to check if there was people inside. Fortunately there was no one. I talked to the people watching and had them call the cops since some of them thought they read the driver’s plates. I was dumb-founded by the experience. So I talked to a friend about it. We realized it’s not only to save lives but for many other things. We came out with the following analogies:

With girls: Often we see that girl getting yelled at by her boyfriend/husband. This should be stopped. It happens quite often and it’s good to know that there are people who stop a guy who is being rude. However, there is also the girl who is uncomfortably sitting by a guy who’s boring her to death and she is just being nice. You can save her from boredom and bring her a new experience. Every guy in there knows that she’s bored. The problem is that they too wonder ‘Will I bore her?’. If you can be that guy who overcomes the ‘bystander effect’, then you’re really making something happen with the girl.

With family: How often do we witness injustice in the family? It might not be violence, but injustice is just as bad. When you see your aunt being nice to one of your cousins and mean to the other, then you know something is wrong. Overcoming the ‘bystander effect’ calls for action in important situations. Family is surely one of them. Do something.

There are plenty of other cases (job, school, etc) but the point is that overcoming or being aware of the ‘bystander effect’ is power. As Tom said, next time you see a situation that may call for your action, ask yourself ‘who’s falling in this bystander effect?’. Then tell yourself that it won’t be you.

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