The bystander effect: why people sometimes do not help

In short: The bystander effect describes how individuals step in less often or later in an emergency when many other people are present. Each person then feels less responsible.

In more detail: The psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané studied the phenomenon in experiments from 1968 onwards. More recent research also shows that in real, clear-cut emergencies at least one person usually intervenes. So the effect is real, but it does not make help impossible.

In detail

• Diffusion of responsibility: The more people are watching, the more the sense of responsibility is spread out: “Someone else will help.”
• Pluralistic ignorance: Everyone looks at how the others react. If everyone stays calm, each person interprets the situation as harmless.
• Fear of embarrassment: Many hesitate because they are afraid of misjudging the situation or doing something wrong.
• A well-known case: The murder of Kitty Genovese in New York in 1964 prompted the research; the newspaper reports of the time about dozens of passive witnesses are now considered heavily exaggerated.
• Clarity helps: The more obvious an emergency is, the more likely people are to help; in dangerous situations the effect is often weaker.
• Address people directly: If you need help or are organising it, speak to specific individuals: “You in the blue jacket, please call 112!”
• Act yourself: Knowing that this effect exists lets you break it deliberately and be the first to respond (notruf-richtig-absetzen, erste-hilfe-grundlagen).
• Your own safety: Helping does not mean putting yourself in danger; even making an emergency call or fetching help is valuable (gruppendynamik-und-konformitaet).