Why do bystanders sometimes fail to help when they see someone in danger?
Why do bystanders sometimes fail to help when someone is in danger? This question is often asked and is quite ironic. At the end of the day, we have all been bystanders to some extent. Whether it's in a restaurant, neighborhood, the streets, an event, at work, and even at school, it is very common for bystanders to avoid involving themselves in dangerous situation to help others. The reason for this is called the bystander effect. The bystander effect is the reason that so many people fail to help others who are in danger due to expecting others to help, pluralistic ignorance, and not knowing what to do.
The bystander effect states that individuals are less likely to help a victim in the presence of other people (Emeghara). One cause is many expecting someone else to take action and assume responsibility (Emeghara). When this thought pops into everyone's head nobody ends up helping. Although this is an ongoing problem, it can easily be avoided. If just one person steps in and involves themself in the situation it may cause other people to follow and do the same. Additionally, another reason is pluralistic ignorance (Sissons). This is when people see the situation with their own eyes, but they think it's not a real emergency since nobody else is helping (Sissons). Lastly, people tend to overthink the encounter and not know what to do in the situation (Emeghara). In major cases, calling the police would even be a good choice than doing nothing. In minor cases, just involving yourself in general can make a huge impact.
One example took place on March 13th, 1964, where Kitty Genovese was brutally stabbed to death by Winston Mosley upon arriving home after work (Ruhl). It was reported that 37 people in her neighborhood heard her screams and cries yet all of them relied on someone else to take action (Ruhl). This is a huge example of the bystander effect and is where the term "the bystander effect" was really acknowledged. All 37 of these neighbors were the bystanders and all of them expected each other to assume responsibility, causing a delay in the medical attention Kitty needed.
In conclusion, the reason bystanders sometimes fail to help people in danger when in public is due to the psychological phenomenon called the bystander effect. People tend to avoid involving themselves in conflict to help people in need for reasons in the bystander effect including not knowing what to do, pluralistic ignorance, and expecting others to help. Knowing the bystander effect exists and avoiding doing these things can help many people in the future. Not relying on others and taking action when witnessing someone in danger will always be better than doing nothing at all.
Ruhl, Charlotte. “What Happened to Kitty Genovese.” Simply Psychology, 3 Aug. 2023, www.simplypsychology.org/kitty-genovese.html.
Emeghara, Udochi. “Bystander Effect in Psychology.” Simply Psychology, 7 Sept. 2023, www.simplypsychology.org/bystander-effect.html.
Sissons, Beth. “Bystander Effect: Causes, Risk Factors, Prevention, and More.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 1 Sept. 2023, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/bystander-effect.
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I really enjoyed this post! I have always wondered about situations situations such as these and a reading post such as this is an nice way to learn new and interesting information. I thought you did a really good job providing evidence and showing examples. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI remember talking about the bystander effect in Health class this year, but the way you explain it really makes sense. It's nice that you discuss the bystander effect but also give a real life example. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis was really good! That's so disappointing and sad that no one helped her, but it makes sense and it was a good use of your source to support your argument. I also think the psychology behind the bystander effect is really interesting and you explain it well.
ReplyDeleteThe bystander effect is always an interesting topic to read and learn more about - I'm very impressed with your insight into the topic in itself, and the sources that you cited show that you truly took the time to look into the topic you intended to write about.
ReplyDeleteI find psychology super interesting, so it was really cool to hear your findings on the bystander effect. I heard somewhere (it might've been at school last year) that in emergency situations, it's better to tell a specific person to do something (e.g. "Bob, call the police") instead of just making a general request to avoid falling victim to the bystander effect. Great post all around!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting! I didn't know about this until reading your blog post, and it definitely intrigued me. The example you used showed the harshness of reality really well, and all your evidence is great too.
ReplyDeleteThis is another one of those topics that people don't tend to think about, although perhaps we should. I feel like this relates to the Not In My Backyard idea of people hoping that something happens, like building better prisons, but they don't want them in their backyard. So i guess the lesson here is if there is a sub-optimal situation, and no one else is doing anything, don't assume they will, and do something yourself. Very intriguing.
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