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Discuss the psychological processes underlying the bystander effect
Discuss the psychological processes underlying the bystander effect
Discuss the psychological processes underlying the bystander effect
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Have you ever witnessed a person in distress? Did you immediately come into action and assist them in their need of help, or did you wait for others to act first? On March 13, 1935, Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese was working late closing the bar she managed at the Ev’s Eleventh Hour Bar in Queens. On that early morning as she was making her way home around 3am, a man by the name of Winston Moseley spotted Genovese walking towards her apartment complex. As Genovese was about 100 feet away from her apartment door, Moseley approached Genovese with a hunting knife in his hand. Genovese then saw she was followed by Moseley and began to run toward Lefferts Boulevard but Moseley grabbed her and then continues to stab Genovese in the back. As Genovese …show more content…
There were neighbors who immediately called the police and reported a domestic dispute and then a neighbor named Sophia Farrar explained she immediately came to Genovese’s cry for help and held her until she finally passed from her wounds. Catherine Genovese was one victim of premeditated murder but was famously remembered for the article of this horrendous night reported by The New York Times. This article started an up roar of readers who were struck that no one responded to Genovese assistance while she was being murdered but a greater question up rose from this murder case. Why would witnesses to a crime or unethical situation not respond and just become a bystander. Personal influences can also predict a person’s willingness to lend a hand. There are some other factors that play a role in a person’s life social, economic, and cultural differences that may also affect their judgment on assisting a person in …show more content…
A 1968 Darley and Latane first verified the bystander effect under laboratory conditions (Gantt & Williams). One involved placing a subject alone in a room who could communicate with other subjects by intercom. What the subject did not know was that they were all confederates. During their discussion, one of them simulated a seizure and, with increasing intensity, called for help. The study found that eighty-five percent of those thought to be alone left the room to help (Myers). Only thirty-one percent of subjects who thought four others had overhead responded by helping. In some instances, the subject never told the experimenter (Myers). The most common explanation of this phenomenon is that, with others present observers all assume that someone else is going to intervene and so they each individually chose not to
I reviewed the Molly Wright case over and over making sure I had all the information concerning the murder correct in my mind. First thing I thought about was why; did Mr. David Hill kill Molly or what would he gain from it, I read where Wright had caused their market trading business to go in a debt totaling over $20.000 with loans and credit cards. This would have made David angry enough to have killed her and from the case file Molly was stuck 15 times and had defensive wounds on her hands this murder in my opinion she was killed out of rage and that helps when trying to identify the murderer and have a stronger case when it goes to court.
In Chapter 4, In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing, the author Lauren Slater starts the chapter off telling the true story of how a young woman, Kitty Genovese, was brutally murdered and raped outside of her apartment complex. What was most shocking in the aftermath is there were a total of 38 witnesses and not a single person did anything to help her. This raised many concerns as to why the witnesses did nothing. When they were being interviewed by the cops, they stated that they just did not want to get involved(p.94), thus “diffusing responsibility”, this is a term used by two psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latane, who were very concerned with and wanted to understand why nothing was done to aid young Kitty Genovese as she was being stabbed and raped.
The bystander effect refers to the tendency for an observer of an emergency to withhold aid if the:
If an individual is familiar with their surrounding “they are more likely to help” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print). In the essay, the authors state “the scene of the crime, the streets, in middle class society “represents all the vulgar and perilous in life” (Milgram, Stanley, and Paul Hollander. Paralyzed Witnesses: The Murder They Heard. Print.). In society, the streets, especially at night, represents the dangerous and negative sides of society due to the crimes and chaos that occur on the streets (gangs, drive-by shootings, robberies, murders, large crowds walking, etc.). The crimes and dangers of the streets cause many people to fear being on the streets alone which leads to external conflicts. When the murder was occurring, the witnesses’ attitudes of the streets prevented them from calling the police due to the fear of the streets and since the witnesses were middle-class, they believed that Genovese was poor, a criminal, or someone who has nothing else to do and was expecting for the=is to eventually
In this story, Allende paints a picture of a little girl who is having what should be a near death experience, but will instead lead to her demise. This change is a result of the fact that even though a passel of reporters and cameramen on the scene, all are insensitive to the suffering of Azucena. The situation is a strong example of the bystander effect. Studies have indicated that in situations such as this one, the members of the group are likely to pass responsibility for saving Azucena to another member of the group. As more news crews report to the scene, each individual feels less compelled to provide aid to this poor girl.
On September 12th, Carmela Buhbut, a battered wife who shot her husband to death 31 times from a close range, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. She then appealed to the Supreme Court against the severity of the sentence. No less than three different justices held the complicated appeal- Bach, Kedmi and Dorner. All three of them, agreed that there is no doubt, that taking a person’s life is a crime which Buhbut should be punished for. However, only of them, justice Kedmi, thought the appeal should be dismiss in limine.
As our textbook describes the bystander effect as the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present. To put it into my own words, I think that bystander effect is where people are less likely to help because of the diffusion of responsibility. We are more likely to help: the person appears to need and deserve help, if the person is in some way similar to us, the person is a woman, when we have just observed someone else being helpful, if we are not in a hurry, if we are in a small town or rural areas, when we are feeling guilty, when we are focused on others and not preoccupied, and when we are in a great/good mood (Myers).
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” We are All Bystanders by Jason Marsh and Dacher Keltner is an article that reflects on the psychological and social phenomenon that refers to cases in which people do not offer any assistance or help to a victim. Studies say that a person's personality can determine how they react to a bystander situation. In a book called, The Heart of Altruism, author Kristen Monroe writes the altruistic perspective. Altruistic people are strongly connected to other humans and have a concern for the well-being of others. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief exemplifies the bystander theory through Liesel and
Latane and Darley (1968) investigated the phenomenon known as the bystander effect and staged an emergency situation where smoke was pumped into the room participants was in. Results showed that 75% of participants who were alone reported the smoke, whereas only 38% of participants working in groups of three reported (Latane & Darley, 1968). Their findings provide evidence for the negative consequence of the diffusion of responsibility. In line with the social influence principle, bystanders depend on reactions of others to perceive a situation as an emergency and are subsequently less likely to help. Latane and Darley’s findings were also supported in recent research: Garcia and colleagues (2002) found that even priming a social context by asking participants to imagine themselves in a group could decrease helping behaviour. It can be contended that these findings are examples of social proof where individuals believe actions of the group is correct for the situation, or examples of pluralistic ignorance where individuals outwardly conform because they incorrectly assumed that a group had accepted the norm (Baumeister & Bushman,
For example, according to Loudon, “For the most part the witnesses, couching in darkened windows like watchers of a late show, looked on until the play was passed their view. Then they went back to bed…” (Wrainright). This insinuates that none of Kitty’s neighbors contacted the police or did anything else to help in the situation until the next morning. If one of the neighbors would have just stood up for Kitty, or even called the police before the murderer returned to finish the job, then she may not have died. In addition, after the incident, one of the witnesses went on to say, “There are people over there who saw everything… And there hasn’t been a peep out of them yet. Not one peep” (Wainright). The reason for this may be that the people are scared to be the first to come and give statements to the police after not having done anything to stop the murder. The witnesses may also be feeling guilty or ashamed after realizing that they had just stood by as their fellow neighbor was killed. It is for this reason that it is so imperative that people not be pressured into conforming, because now all of the witnesses will have to carry the guilt of having not helped for the rest of their lives. Lastly, other witnesses admitted to not wanting to get involved, in the event that they may be taken in as a possible suspect or
Do we ever really know how we will act when put into a hectic situation? Some may be calm and collected in times of need and step up as a leader; others may fall under the pressures put upon them. Though the boys from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, all react very differently in their particular situation, they all have one thing in common; they all fall victim of becoming a bystander. When looking at John Darley and Bibb Latane experiments on witness behavior, one can easily see that the boys on the island fell into what we know as the bystander effect, while stranded on the island. The work of William Golding shows many occasions where the bystander effect comes into play for the boys and changes their actions.
...though the researchers weren’t looking for it, he results represent ideas that can help the bystander effect in a situation. Smaller numbers increase the percentage of realization when it comes down to an emergency. The victim, if cohesive, actually plays a big role in causing the bystander effect as well. When a victim is unable to verbally communicate with bystanders, it lessens the chance of help. If a victim is capable of communicating, the help given could be more efficient. This is because it can help break the diffusion of responsibility. A victim looking a bystander directly in the eyes can even spark a quicker reaction in them. These are all ideas that psychologists still study today, and many even consider learning about this phenomenon a requirement.
Martin Gansberg's "Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police" is about a case where a man stabbed a woman three time separated instances; in front of audience of 38 men and woman who did nothing to help the defenseless woman. They all had sorry excuses for apathy of the situation even when the woman yelled that she was dying. They said "’ I didn't want to get involved’" and "’We went to the window to see what was happening’" he said, "’but the light from our bedroom made it difficult to see the street.’" The wife, still apprehensive, added: "’I put out the light and we were able to see better.’" (Gansberg) But in Stanley Milgram and Paul Hollander's "Paralyzed Witnesses" they give reasons as to why these law abiding bystanders got paralyzed and watched as if it were a show of gladiators in the great Coliseum of Rome. As Stanley Milgram and Paul Hollander State “Modern societies are organized as t...
One of the strengths is providing a new insight into bystander effect. The study argued that researchers have previously neglected the potential benefit of bystanders and thus, the study provided a new horizon by proving reversed bystander effect through experiment. This allows us to be aware of the fact that someone may be providing help merely due to impression management. This arouses a doubt on whether the one who provides help is genuinely concerned about the needs of the victims, or one is just motivated by upholding his/her reputation when surrounded by a crowd. Besides, carrying out a manipulation check right after this experiment is beneficial to this study as well....
Darley, J. M. & Latané, B. (1968) Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 8, 377–383