Bystander apathy - it's none of my business!

Haveyoueverheardaboutanexampleofbystanderapathyandwonderedifyouwouldhavedone something?Orperhapsyou'resureyouwould.Alittlepsychologicalknowledgecanputyoulessatrisk ofbystanderapathyifyouyourselfareintrouble,andhelpyoucombatitinyourself. IntheMontyPythonfilm'LifeofBrian',Brianthereluctantmessiahshoutsexasperatedlydowntohis throngsoffollowers:"Youmustthinkforyourselves!"Towhichtheyallslavishlyrespond(inunison!), "Wemustthinkforourselves!"Hethenshoutsout,"Youareallindividuals!"Andagainthemasses collectivelyandroboticallyechohiswords:"Weareallindividuals!"Atinyvoicepipesupfromthe crowd:"I'mnot!" Absurdasthismayseem,itneatlymatcheswhatpsychologistshavediscoveredaboutmuchhuman (group)nature.Weliketothinkofourselvesas'individuals',butasurprisingamountofwhatwedoand thinkisreallypromptedbygroupactionandgroupthink. Standingbyanddoingnothing WhenIwasthirteenIsawaboyhavinganepilepticfitatschool.Hewrithedandrolledaroundonthe floor,andIjustwatched.Iwantedtohelp,butnooneelsewashelping,soIdidn'teither.Eventuallyhe cameoutofthefitandateacherarrived.Ihadexperienced'bystanderapathy'firsthand,andI'mnot proudofit.Theconceptofbystanderapathywhichreferstowitnessesofaproblematiceventwhodo nothingwhentheycouldorshouldhasgrislyandhorrificorigins. WhyCatherineGenovesedied OnFriday13Marchin1964,28yearoldCatherineGenovesewasarrivinghomeinherbuiltup neighbourhoodfromalatenightshiftasabarmanagerinQueens,NewYork.Shewassuddenly attackedwithaknifebyamannamedWinstonMoseley.ShescreamedaloudOhmyGod,I'vebeen stabbed!Pleasehelpme!Weknowwhatshescreamedbecausepeopleheardher.Peoplewhodidn't liftafingertohelp.Peoplewhodidn'twantto'getinvolved',whodidn'tcallthepolice. Moseleysawlightscomeonintheapartmentsnearby.Heknewpeoplewerewatching.Heranoff, leavingCatherinetodragherselfintoadoorwaywhereshelaybleedingshecouldpossiblyhave survivedatthispoint.Butherattackerdecidedtoreturntofinishoffwhathe'dstartedbecause,ashe latersaidincourt:"Itdidn'tseemlikeanyonewasgoingtostopme!"Althoughbadlyweakenedbynow, sheagainscreamedforhelp.Of38witnesseswhoheardorsawsomepartoftheattack(whichtook placeoverabouthalfanhourintotal),notonetookactiontohelpher.Bythetimethepolicewere eventuallycalled,shewasdead. Whydidnoonetakeaction?Weretheybadpeople?Orwasitthenatureofthesituationthecontext

thatmadethemseeminhuman?It'snotthattheydidn'tcareaboutwhatwashappening,it'sthatthey didn'tact.Noonepickedupthephonetocallforrescueforthiswoman. Moraloutrageatbystanderapathy Thetragedywasn'tgiventhatmuchcoverageatfirst.ButwhentheNewYorkTimesranapieceonthe astonishinglyapatheticbehaviourofthe38witnesses,moraloutrageensued.Newspapersthreatened toprintthenamesandaddressesofthewitnesses,to'nameandshame'them.Thesecouldnotbe normalpeople,theymustbeinhuman!Barbarians,thugsandcriminals.Readerswroteinsayingthese viciousbystanderskilledthiswomanjustassurelyasMoseleydid,andshouldbepunishedfortheir 'crime'ofnothelpingwhentheyhadthepower. Understandingwhybystanderapathyoccurs Whensomethinglikethishappens,it'smorecomfortabletoassumethatonly'otherpeople'behavelike this(I'mnottalkingaboutthemurderImeanthebystanderapathy).Yetresearchwhichhasbeen undertakensincethishorrificcrimehasshownthatthebehaviourofthese38witnessesisactuallyquite normalinthecontextinwhichtheyfoundthemselves. Duringthepublicityandmassdenouncementofthewitnesses,twoyoungexperimentalpsychology researchers,JohnDarleyandBibbLataneofColumbiaUniversity,wantedtodiscoverif'nothelping' bystanderapathywassomethingthatpeoplecommonlydid,andifso,why?Theywantedto understand,andnotjustcondemn,peoplewhowerenearby,whosawsomeoftheattack,orheardthe criesforhelp,butwhodidnothingtohelpduringthe35minutesittookforayoungwomantoberaped andmurderedontheirdoorstep.Theirhypothesiswasthatpeople'sdecisionnottoactwasdictated morebythesocialcontextthanbythemoralstandardsofthewitnesses. Usingotherpeoples'pointsofview Inthinkingabouttheinactionofthewitnesses,DarleyandBitanethoughttheysawacommonpattern ofeverydaylife.Forinstance,ifafirealarmgoesoffinabuildingandnooneelseseemsconcerned, mostpeoplewillcontinuetodonothingbecauseotherpeoplearedoingnothing.Orinthestreet,if someonefallsoverandnoonehelps,youmightnothelpeitherbecauseotherpeoplearen'thelping. Ourtworesearchersdecidedtoputthistothetest.Obviously,theycouldn'treplicateamurder,sothey decidedtoreplicateaseizure. Thebystanderapathyexperiment Concealingtheirrealobjective,theyrecruitedagroupofstudentvolunteersandtoldthemtheywereto takepartinastudyaboutadaptingtostudentlifeattheuniversity.Astudentwastositaloneina separateroomandtalkintoamicrophonefortwominutesabouttheirexperiencesofuniversitylife.Ina seriesofseparateaudiowiredroomsweretaperecorderswhichwouldplayotherstudents'stories.

However,the'subject'wasunawarethattheseaccountswereprerecorded,andthoughtthatthevoices theycouldhearwereotherstudentsparticipatinginthestudy. Theinstructionswereclear.Thesubjectwastowaittheirturnwhileeachprerecordedvoicecarriedon abouttheirtrials,troublesandchallengesofcollegelife.Whenthelivesubject'sturncame,heorshe couldspeakfortwominutes.Whenitwasnotthesubject'sturn,theirmicrophonewasswitchedoff, andtheywouldjustlistentowhattheybelievedtobealivepersoninanotherroom. Thefistvoicetospeakwasaprerecordedaccountfromasupposedly'epileptic'student.Heconfessed totherestofthe'group'(remembertherewasonlyoneactualstudentpresent)thathe(orinsome experimentsshe)waspronetoseizureswhichcouldbelifethreatening,andmightbestressinduced.He saidexamsweretoughforhim,andthatNewYorkwastoughtolivein;hespokewithhalting embarrassmentabouthis'condition'.Hesaidhefoundcollegelifetough.Hisvoicethenmuted,and anotherprerecordedvoicespoke,asthereallivestudentlistenedtowhattheybelievedwereotherlive studentsspeakinginrealtime.Thiscarriedon'student'after'student'speakingfortwominutesata timeuntilsomethinghappened.Aseizurestarted.Therealstudentsubjectcouldnot,ofcourse,see theseizure,astheywereinaseparateroombythemselves,buttheycouldhearit.Theepilepticactor's voicebecamestaccato,andgotlouder,morepanickyandinsistent:"I'm...I'mhavingafit...I...Ithink I'm...helpme...I...Ican't...OhmyGod...err...ifsomeonecanjusthelpmeouthere...I...I...can't breatheppproperly...I'mfeeling...I'mgoingtodddieif"Thentherewasafinalchoke,thensilence. The'seizure'lastedafullsixminutes. Nowtheonelivelistenerwhoofcoursewouldhavebeenthinkingthattherewereatleastone,two,or uptofiveotherlistenerswhocouldalsohearwhatwasgoingoncouldatanypointgetup,leavethe room,godownthehallandasktheexperimenterforhelp. DarleyandLatanehadbeencarefultoconstructtheexperimenttomimicthecircumstancesofthe Genovesemurder.Duringtheprotractedassault,witnessescouldseeotherwitnessesbutnot communicatewiththemseparatedastheywerebypanesofglass.Intheexperiment,thestudents thoughttheycouldn'tcommunicatewithotherstudentsinotherrooms(becausetheirmicrophone wouldbeoffifitwasn'ttheirturn).Thestudentshadtimetoreflectonwhattheyshoulddosix minutes.Theresults?Veryfewtriedtohelp31%,tobeexact.Whichmeansthatmostpeopledidn't help,eventhoughtheybelievedsomeonemightbedying.Theywereanxious,buttheydidn'tact.The researchersfoundthatifthesubjectsbelievedtheywereinagroupoffourormorestudentstheywere actuallyfarlesslikelytogoforhelp.If,however,theybelieveditwasjustthemandtheepilepticstudent andnooneelse,then85%ofthesubjectswouldseekhelp.Thebiggerthegroup,thelesslikelythe individualistoact.Iftheyweretoact,theywoulddosointhefirstthreeminutesofthecrisis.Ifyou don'tactinthefirstthreeminutesofanemergency,youareveryunlikelytoactatall! There'sdangerinnumbers Thisresearchhasbeenreplicatedamongothersectorsofthepopulation(i.e.peoplewhoarenot

students)andthehelpingratesremainconstant.Thereissomethingaboutbeingin(orbelieving ourselvestobein,aswiththisexperiment)alargergroupthatstopsusactingasindividuals.Statistically, it'ssaferforyoutocollapseinfrontofoneortwopeoplethaninacrowdofonlookers.Thereisnot always'safetyinnumbers'. Whenthestudentsthoughtanotherstudentwashavingafit,theybecamescared,upsetandanxious. Noneofthemwerejustapathetic,orindifferent(asthemorallyoutragednewspaperreadersassumed thatthewitnessesofthe1964murderhadbeen),butmostofthemstilldidn'thelp.Thewitnessesto murderonthatterriblenightwereprobablyfrozenwithindecisionandfear"Someoneelsemustbe dealingwiththis!"(ourresearcherscalledthis'diffusionofresponsibility'),"don'twanttoappear foolishitmightjustbeadomestic!",etc. Idon'twanttogetinvolved Youareinvolvedifyouarethere.SoamI,ifIamthere.IfwearewatchingTV,wearenotinvolved.Ifwe arewatchingeventsunfoldbeforeus,howcanwenotbe?Evenatthe'risk'oflookingfoolish.Butit seemsthatmostofuswouldratherriskdeaththanriskgoingagainstthemajority. Socialaffirmationwinsoverselfpreservation DarleyandLataneconductedfurtherresearch.Theywantedtoseeifwewouldstillbeinfluencedinto inactionbygroupthinkiftheperson'inneed'was'us'insteadof'someoneelse'.Theyconstructedan officewithanairvent.Inthisofficesatonestudent(againignorantoftherealobjectofthestudy)and twoactors.Theyweretosittogetherfillinginpsychologicalquestionnaires.Severalminutesintothe experiment,theresearchersreleasednonhazardousbutconvincinglookingsmokeintotheroomvia theairvent. Theactorswereunderinstructiontoignorethesmokeandkeepfillingintheirquestionnaires.The smokemadethemallcough,andgotsothickitwashardtosee.Stillthetwoactorsjustwentoncalmly fillingouttheirforms.Therealsubjectslookedconcerned,andafewactuallygotupandwenttothe vent,thenlookedbackattheircalmfellowquestionnairefillersandthenwentbacktotheirownforms! Becausetheywereinaminorityofone,theyignoredtheirownlogicandinstincts.Someventuredtoask theothertwowhetherthiswasstrange,buttheactorsjustshruggedsuchquestionsoff.Inthewhole experiment,onlyonestudentactuallylefttheroomandreportedthesmoke. Thesubjectsbasedtheiraction,orinaction,onthesocialcuesofthosearoundthemratherthanonthe evidencebeforethem.Theyhadsmokeintheireyes,afinewhitefilmintheirhairandontheirlips,they werecoughingandspluttering,butstillcontinueddoingnothingaboutit(becausetheotherswere doingnothing)untiltheexperimenterarrivedandstoppedtheexperiment.Itseemspeoplewould ratherrisktheirlivesthangoagainstthegrainand'breakrank'. Incontrast,whenthesubjectwasaloneinasmokefilledroom,theynearlyalwaysdecidedthesituation

wasanemergencyandwenttoraisethealarm.Sowhenwehavetotakeresponsibilitybecausenoone elseisthere,wedo,butwhenotherpeoplearepresentmanyofuslooktootherstosignaltouswhat weshoulddo. Thismaydepressingatfirstsight,butrememberthatthereisaminorityofpeoplewhowilltrytoact, regardlessofthegroupconsensus.Thankgoodnessforthosepeopleifitweren'tforthem,we'dall behavelikerobots! Youmayalreadybelessatriskofbystanderapathy Itseemsthatknowingaboutthephenomenonofbystanderapathymayprotectyoufromactually becomingthatapatheticbystander. SocialscientistArthurBeamandiscoveredthatwhenheeducatedpeopleaboutsocialcuesand bystanderapathytheyweremorereadytotakeaction.Hetookagroupofcollegestudentsandshowed themfootageofthesmokeexperimentI'vejustdescribed.Healsospoketothemabouttheseizure researchinrelationtoGenovesemurdercase.Hefoundthatafterexposuretothisinformationthe studentsweretwiceaslikelytoofferhelp'inthestreet'ascomparedwithpeoplewhohadnotbeen educatedaboutthis. So,wecanconcludefromthisthatweneedtolearnaboutourselves,andnotassumethatthe behaviourofothersisnotourown.Choosingtothinkwellofourselvesisn'tthesameasreally understandingourselves.'Theroadtohellispavedwithgoodintentions',butintentionwithoutaction aspoorCatherineGenoveselearnedtohercostthathorribleFriday13thbackin1964isworsethan useless.