Mental Health Monday - Don't Just Stand There!

When people have knowledge of something going wrong yet no one takes action to stop it, important questions are raised after the fact. “How could this happen?” “Why didn’t anyone stop it?” “Couldn’t more have been done?” Social psychologists often try to answer these questions by explaining things like “bystander apathy” and “diffusion of responsibility.”

Much of the research involving these theories stems from the tragic case of Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted and ultimately murdered in a densely populated area of Queens, New York. Reports indicated some 38 people heard or witnessed the attack on Genovese, but no one so much as picked up the phone to call the police until 45 minutes into the attack. By that time, Genovese was dead and her attacker and fled. Clearly, psychologists need to study the behaviors related to this tragedy and others like it in order to learn what kept anyone from intervening on the victims’ behalf. In the case of Genovese, it’s understandable no one wanted to become directly involved for fear of themselves being injured, but what harm could come from phoning the police?

After Genovese’s murder in the mid-60’s, researchers Latane and Darley created “emergency” conditions in laboratory settings to see how participants responded to the presence of smoke when they were by themselves, with other participants, or in the presence of a research assistant. The assistant essentially ignored the smoke that began to fill the room where participants were waiting. The participants were most likely to report the smoke when they were alone, significantly less likely to report the smoke when they were with other participants, and even less likely to report the smoke when the assistant was present, as participants apparently followed the cue of the assistant to ignore the smoke. 

From this and other research into the bystander effect, Latane and Darley identified steps that must be taken to enhance an individual’s likeliness of taking action rather than inaction in an emergency situation: the person must notice the events are happening, interpret the situation as an emergency or threat, and take some degree of personal responsibility to intervene. 

The lack of a sense of personal responsibility for someone else’s welfare is a fascinating and frightening phenomenon. A former boss of mine was fond of saying, “Don’t wait for the other guy, BE the other guy.” I remind myself of these words often, because they’re helpful in so many situations. In fact, the phrase is an anti-apathy slogan. Take responsibility and do the right thing because when it comes to bystander apathy, no one wins. Not even the winningest coach in all of college football.