Reaction
How would you Call the Police
have reacted?
Reasons Why?
- Right thing to do
- Call to be safe
- absolutely necessary
- Care about people’s safety
- Do same for me
- Not risking life
Probably never would have
noticed
-Mind own business
Go down and help
- Absolutely necessary
- Do same for me
Shut blinds so perp. Wouldn’t see
me (if gun)
Hide and call police
- Couldn’t come after me
Done nothing
- Don’t know what going on
- Fear
- Mind own business
- Not risking life
Scared – wouldn’t know what to
do
- dangerous situation?
Call down if she is ok
- dangerous situation?
Tell someone (not cops first)
- Need reassurance
What is the Bystander Effect?
• The term bystander effect refers to the phenomenon in
which the greater the number of people present, the
less likely people are to help a person in distress.
• When an emergency situation occurs, observers are
more likely to take action if there are few or no other
witnesses.
Ex: Philly Subway Car
TEN other passengers on the
subway took no action during
the attack except to get out of
harms way.
The attacker had has six year old
son with him during the attack
and made sure that his son was
safely seated before turning to
attack the surprised victim
A Model of Bystander Intervention
Notices
incident
Interpret incident
as emergency
Assume
responsibility
Attempt to
help
Based off of Research Studies...
Factors that Influence Helping
Noticing
The first step required for a bystander to intervene
is that they notice the situation at all.
Ex: Smoke Room Study
Predict what
% of the
subjects
would respond to
the smoke
(ex: 90%, 40%, 3%)
- STUDY #1
In a series of classic studies, researchers Bibb
Latane and John Darley found that the
amount of time it takes the participant to take
action and seek help varies depending on
how many other observers are in the room.
In one experiment, subjects were placed in one
of three treatment conditions:
Alone in a room 75% calmly noticed the smoke and left the room
to report it to experimenters
With two other subjects 38% noticed smoke in a room and
reported the smoke to experimenters
With two confederates who pretended to be normal participants
10% noticed the smoke in room and reported the smoke to
experimenters
• Other studies have shown that togetherness reduces fear
even when the danger isn't reduced. It may have been that
people in groups were less afraid and thus less likely to act.
Or people were inhibited to show fear in a group situation.
Noticing
The first step required for a bystander to intervene is that they
notice the situation at all.
Ex: Smoke Room Study
Conclusion: In large groups, passers-by
are more likely to be keeping their
attention to themselves, than when alone,
where people are more likely to be
conscious of their surroundings and
therefore more likely to notice a person in
need of assistance.
Situational ambiguity. In ambiguous situations, (i.e.,
it is unclear that there is an emergency) people are
much less likely to offer assistance than in situations
involving a clear-cut emergency
ex: People's reactions to a man and woman fighting in the street.
When the woman yelled, "Get away from me; I don't know you,"
bystanders intervened 65 percent of the time,
but only 19 percent of the time when the woman yelled "Get away
from me; I don't know why I ever married you".
They are also less likely to help in unfamiliar
environments than in familiar ones (strange cities vs
Severity of the victim'sneed and
Environment or surroundings
• In situations with low potential danger, more help was
given in the solitary condition than in the bystander
condition. (low danger, alone more likely to help)
• However, in situations with high potential danger,
participants confronted with an emergency alone or in
the presence of another bystander were similarly likely
to help the victim.
• Conclusion: In situations of greater seriousness it is
more likely that people will interpret the situation as one
in which help is needed so that they will be more likely
to intervene.
Perceived cost. The likelihood of helping increases
as the perceived cost to ourselves declines
Called Social-Exchange entails a person evaluating a sort of
relationship that binds the benefit and cost of helping the person
BEFORE they act in the situation.
The helper desires to achieve optimal benefit at a low cost.
ex: Lend our class notes to someone whom
we believe will return them vs to a person
who doesn't appear trustworthy.
Diffusion of responsibility. The presence of others
may diffuse the sense of individual responsibility.
ex:More people - less likely to receive help
Less people - more likely you will receive help
With fewer people present, it becomes more difficult to point
to the "other guy" as the one responsible for taking action.
If everyone believes the other guy will act,
then no one acts.
Read about the studies,,,
Similarity. People are more
willing to help others whom they
perceive to be similar to
themselves—people who share a
common background and beliefs.
They are even more likely to help
others who dress like they do
than those in different attire (Cialdini &
Trost, 1998).
Peter – dressed in a suit compared
to dressed as regular person/bum
Mood. People are generally more willing to help
others when they are in a good mood (feel the
genuine desire to help someone else in need)
(Berkowitz, 1987).
Relieve sense of guilt
• People who want to feel better
about themselves by relieving a
sense of guilt they may have in
order to have a more pure notion of
themselves.
Ex: “I should have helped the time
before, but now I can ‘redeem’ myself…”
“I should help or I will have that nagging
feeling all day”
Gender. Despite changes in traditional gender roles,
women in need are more likely than men in need to
receive assistance from strangers
(Benson, Karabenick, & Lerner, 1976).
Attributions of the cause of need
Ex: Subway Study
STUDY #2
Two male, two female experimenters (who took
notes) boarded a subway train separately.
• Two men stood - as train began to move, one of the men
lurched forward and collapsed
(lay on floor, face up, staring at the ceiling until someone came to his aid)
– IF NO ONE HELPED - the other male experimenter would eventually
help the "victim" to his feet
• Several Experiments - victim carried black cane and looked ill AND
victim smelled like alcohol and carried bottle of liquor in brown
paper bag
QUESTION - IN WHICH CONDITION WERE THEY MORE LIKELY TO HELP?
PREDICTIONS?
The victim with the cane received help 95% of the time and usually within 5 seconds
The "drunk" received help 50% of the time after an average of 1 1/2 minutes
Explanation as to why?
Drunk was responsible for his own plight
Helping drunk may involve greater cost (e.g. turn aggressive)
Attributions of the cause of need
Ex: Subway Study
People are much more likely to
help others they judge to be
innocent victims than those they
believe have brought their problems
on themselves (Batson, 1998).
Thus, they may fail to lend
assistance to homeless people and
drug addicts whom they feel
"deserve what they get.“
Social norms (def: Prescribe behaviors that are expected of people in
social situations)
The social norm of "doing your part" in helping a
worthy cause places a demand on people to help,
especially in situations where their behavior is
observed by others (Gaulin & McBurney, 2001).
 Reciprocity norm
As social norms idealize how we
ought to be behave, this norm suggests how we act in
service to someone else because they had previously done
it for us.
Social norms (def: Prescribe behaviors that are expected of people in
social situations)
Social-responsibility norm. This agent is different from
the reciprocity norm in that we are aware of no trading
services for one another.
This norm best illustrates altruism (unselfish helping)
because it suggests that will we be inspired to help
someone in need and
never ask for or expect anything in return.
Notable
(and Tragic)
Examples
Kitty Genovese
• New York City woman who was
stabbed to death near her home on
March 13, 1964
• Coming home from her job working
as a bar manager early in the morning
• As she walked towards the building
she was approached by Winston
Moseley
• Attacked her 3 separate times
• Witnesses did nothing until AFTER
the ambulance left
• Investigation lead to defining the
Bystander Effect
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
Death of Axel Casian
• On June 16, 2008, on a country road outside Turlock,
California, friends, family and strangers, including a
volunteer fire chief, stood by as Sergio Aguiar
methodically stomped his two-year-old son Axel Casian
to death, explaining in a calm voice that he "had to get
the demons out" of the boy. He stopped at one point to
turn on the hazard lights on his truck.
Notable (and Tragic) Examples
Axel Casian con’t
• No one moved to take the child or attack Aguiar.
Witnesses said they were all afraid to intervene because
Aguiar "might have something in his pocket", although
some people looked for rocks or boards hoping to find
something to subdue him.
• The fire chief's fiancée called 911.
• Police officer Jerry Ramar arrived by helicopter and told
Aguiar to stop. Aguiar gave Ramar the finger and Ramar
shot him in the head.
Notable (and Tragic) Examples
Axel Casian con’t
• Police officers and psychologists later explained that the
inaction of the crowd was justified in that "ordinary
people aren't going to tackle a psychotic," that they were
not "psychologically prepared" to intervene, and that
being frozen in indecision and fear is a normal reaction.
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
Esmin Green, Kings County Hospital
• In June 2008 49-year-old Esmin Green collapsed in the
waiting room of Kings County Hospital Center in
Brooklyn after waiting nearly 24 hours for treatment. She
was ignored by other people present in the room and two
security guards. People tried to help her only after an
hour had passed. Ms. Green died.
• The hospital staff falsified their records to minimize the
time she had lain on the floor unaided. Kings County
Hospital had been previously cited for unsanitary
conditions and patient neglect.
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
• Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax
• In April 2010 Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax was
stabbed to death in New York City after
coming to the aid of a woman who was being
attacked by a robber. Yax was on the sidewalk
for more than an hour before firefighters
arrived. Almost twenty-five people walked by
while he lay dying on a sidewalk in Queens,
several stared at Yax; one of them took
pictures, however none of them helped or
called emergency services.
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
Raymond Zack
• On Memorial Day, 2011, Raymond Zack walked into the
waters off of Robert Crown Memorial Beach and stood
neck deep in water roughly 150 yards offshore for almost
an hour.
• His foster mother, Dolores Berry, called 9-1-1 and said
that he was trying to drown himself. (There are conflicting
reports about Zack's intentions.)
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
• Firefighters and police responded but did not enter
the water. The firefighters called for a United States
Coast Guard boat to respond to the scene.
• According to police reports, Alameda police
expected the firefighters to enter the water.
• Firefighters later said that they did not have current
training and certifications to perform land-based
water rescue.
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
• Dozens of civilians on the beach, and watching
from their homes across from the beach, did not
enter the water, apparently expecting public safety
officers to conduct a rescue.
• Eventually, Zack collapsed in the water, apparently
from hypothermia.
• Even then, nobody entered the water for several
minutes. Finally, a good Samaritan entered the
water and pulled Zack to shore, after which he died.
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
Wang Yue
• In October 2011, a two-year-old girl was
hit by a small, white van in China and
then run over by a large truck when she
was not moved by bystanders.
• A total of 18 people ignored her, some
going so far as to walk around the blood,
and the girl was left for 7 minutes before
a recycler, Chen Xianmei, picked up the
toddler and called for help.
• The child died eight days later
Notable (and Tragic)
Examples
ISU
Professor Said ByStander Effect
Explains New York Post Subway Death
Photo
Article
• “The victim, after all, is
not dead yet, but frozen in
time moments before his
doom, and the haunting
photograph is a grim
reminder that no one -including the Post
photographer -- reached
out to save him”
Bystanders
Doing Good
Examples
• Bystanders rushed to the aid of a Denison, TX woman who was
stabbed during an altercation Monday afternoon, trying to protect
woman from further injuries.
• Bystander - "I had a concealed carry permit so I grabbed my
weapon, ran down the road, saw a man down the street waving a
bowie knife around chasing people"
• Several bystanders rushed to the woman's aid and worked to disarm
the man.
• "I kicked the knife out of his hand, kicked him in the face, pinned
him to the ground and some other people helped me hold him there
till the cops got there" bystander said
• "I just did what anybody else would've done"
Bystanders
Doing Good
Examples
Crews said bystanders helped the people
inside escape the car, which had landed on its roof.
Two bystanders performed CPR to revive a man after he fell off his
bicycle at the edge of the Southdale Shopping Center parking lot
Wednesday night
- Mary Jo Tingle told police she saw the man lose control of the bicycle near a parking
lot exit to Mountain Road, where he hit a curb and flew off the bike.
Who is Chad Lindsey?
• Rescued a man who'd fallen on the C train tracks
of Penn Station
• Chad saw a man accidentally fall onto the subway tracks.
“He stopped and kind of reeled around. I felt bad,
because I couldn’t get close enough to grab his coat. He
fell, and immediately hit his head on the rail and passed
out.”
• Without giving it a second thought or having concern for
his own life, he immediately dropped everything and
jumped down to help him. The man was bleeding, so
Chad called for assistance. Then sensing that a train was
approaching, Chad quickly moved into action and lifted
him up off the tracks to safety
Should we forced people to help?
• Seinfeld Episode – Good Samaritan Law
• Good Samaritan laws are real and common, but
they do not work the way Seinfeld portrayed
them.
• Instead, they usually shield would-be heroes
from liability if their attempts to rescue a victim
fail or even hurt the victim further.
They protect Good Samaritans — they don’t
force people to become them.
What do you think?
Should there be a law requiring people
to help (in reasonable situations or in
ALL situations)? Why or why not?
Let’s look at David Cash
The Bad Samaritan