Aim
The experiment described below was aimed at investigating bystander apathy and try and relate to it to diffusion of responsibility. The bystander effect has been greatly examined and investigated leading to several conclusions, with diffusion of responsibility being one of the most prevalent. The theory holds that a person is more willing to assist another person in distress when he is alone. When a person is comes across a person in distress and there are other people around, he is less willing to help. This occurrence of this behavior has been theorized to stem from diffusion of responsibility. This theory suggests that as the number of people increases, the responsible to help in a situation reduces. As a matter of fact, the greater the number of people present, the more an individual is likely to assume that the victim is getting help, or help is on the way.
Procedure
I was the only participant in the experiment. The experiment involved me walking down a street and dropping a bundle of papers. I would then go about collecting the papers while observing if any of the people around me would offer help. The experiments were structured to take place in two particular times of day. I would walk down the street early in the morning, when it was more likely that only a single person would be walking down the street. This would allow me to observe if a solitary person would offer help. I also picked the early afternoons to walk down the street and drop the papers. This would allow me to observe whether people within the crowd would offer help, or the bystander effect would dominate the situation.
To empirically gather data that would qualitatively lead to unbiased results, I choose to conduct the experiment 10 times. This was d...
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...stressful situation. If they note that others around seem calm and are just standing around, then they also likely not to offer help, thinking that the situation is not an emergency (Darley, 1968).
Confusion of Responsibility: This theory suggests that thee bystander effect is occasioned by the fact that people refrain from helping victims so as not to be mistaken as the perpetrators of the suffering or and situation. It is possible, in some cases, that someone assisting a victim to appear as thee person causing the suffering of the victim.
Works Cited
Bickman, L. (1972). Social Influence And Diffusion Of Responsibility In An Emergency. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 8, 438–445.
Darley, M., & Latane, B. (1968). Bystander Intervention In Emergencies: Diffusion Of Responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377–383.
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Scott Hightower’s poem “Father” could be very confusing to interpret. Throughout almost the entirety of the poem the speaker tries to define who his father is by comparing him to various things. As the poem begins the reader is provided with the information that the father “was” all of these things this things that he is being compared to. The constant use of the word “was” gets the reader to think ‘how come the speaker’s father is no longer comparable to these things?’ After the speaker reveals that his father is no longer around, he describes how his father impacted him. Details about the father as well as descriptions of the impacts the father has distraught on the speaker are all presented in metaphors. The repetitive pattern concerning the speaker’s father and the constant use of metaphors gives the reader a sense that the speaker possesses an obsessive trait. As the reader tries to interpret the seemingly endless amount of metaphors, sets of connotative image banks begin to develop in the reader’s mind. Major concepts that are expressed throughout the poem are ideas about what the speaker’s father was like, what he meant to the speaker, and how he influenced the speaker.
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I think that due to the reactions of others, some people may not want to look foolish by coming to the aid of someone that may be play acting. They may believe that if something serious was truly happening, someone else would definitely have done something about it already. Also, if there are indeed others around, it is common to look to them to gauge their reaction towards the situation. If they are reacting calmly, it creates a sense that there is nothing serious occurring, surely no one could be calm otherwise. Some people may also believe that they are unfit to assist in the situation, that others would be more qualified to
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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....
Bibb Latané and John Darley, two psychologists, studied the bystander effect during their experimentation after the murder of Kitty Genovese. The Bystander Effect refers to the effect that bystanders have during the intervention of an emergency. Latané and Darley used a series of experiments to look at different aspects of the bystander effect; The series of experiments included smoke, a lady in distress, hand in the till, stolen beer, “children don’t fight like that,” and fit to be tried (Latané & Darley, 1970). Latané and Darley asked, “What is the underlying force in mankind toward altruism?” and “what determines in a particular situation whether one person will help another?”
This essay presents evidence for various arguments of the causes of the bystander effect including: diffusion of responsibility, perceived authority, audience inhibition and individual differences. Although the bystander effect is partly caused by diffusion of responsibility, it is important to remember that we must take into consideration other factors that also contribute. As individuals we have different beliefs, attitudes and values. Therefore we respond to situations differently. Some people are self-absorbed in their own lives so assume someone else will help, others comply with authority, some are embarrassed to help and many people are just not able to help. This disagrees with the claim that the bystander effect is caused by diffusion of responsibility, suggesting all factors can cause the bystander effect depending on the
Darley, J. M. & Latané, B. (1968) Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 8, 377–383
This study took place on a Sunday afternoon on the Harvard quad. The general population involved in the experiment seemed to be a...