Diffusion of Responsibility

and the
Bystander Effect
Debodipta Moitra
Roll No: 1727013
M9 – Aerospace Engg.
 Overview
 What is the diffusion of responsibility?
 What is the bystander effect?
 Examples of the Diffusion of Responsibility
 Examples of the Bystander Effect
 Boondock Saints and the diffusion of
Responsibility and the Bystander Effect.
 Diffusion of Responsibility
 When others are present, our sense of
responsibility decreases (“Bystander Apathy”).
 Thus our obligation to help is divided among the
people present.
 When we are alone we perceive ourselves as
100 percent responsible.
 When in a group we the group are 100 percent
responsible and individually only a fraction of
that 100 percent (“Why Don’t People Help”).
– In a group of 5 people, we only see ourselves as 20
% responsible.
 Bystander Effect
 Due to a decreased obligation to help by a diffusion of responsibility
the members present in the situation become bystanders.
 This leads to the bystander Effect.
 Bystander Effect : a person’s unwillingness to help another person
when other people are present.
 According to Latané and Darley, people help more often and more
quickly when they are alone.
 View Social Norm
 We use other people’s behavior to help gauge the situation.
 When we are in a group we are de-individualized.
 Examples…
– Boondock Saints
– Kitty Genovese
– 38 people witnessed the murder of Kitty Genovese
and did nothing.
– The brothers viewed the whole city of Boston as
bystanders. They no longer wanted to be
bystanders. They began to take action. No longer
exhibiting the bystander effect.
 Conditions that strengthen
conformity
1. Insecure, offering unwanted assistance
or “losing face” in front bystanders
 Behavior will be observed/judged
2. Group that has at least three people
3. The group is unanimous; look at other’s
reactions in an emergency
4. Group’s status is admirable
5. No prior commitment to any response
 Actions to counter bystander
apathy
 As a victim, single out one person in the
crowd and appeal directly to them
 In this way the person cannot diffuse
their responsibility; it is placed on their
shoulders
 This counters pluralistic ignorance as
one person in the crowd does help
 Examples
 Stanford Prison Experiment
– Diffusion of responsibility
 Milgram’s Obedience Experiment
– Prison Abuse in Iraq
 Liverpool, England Murder
The Bystander Effect
and Diffusion of
Responsibility in The
Boondock Saints
 Genovese Case
 The film opens citing the textbook
example of the Kitty Genovese case: In the
early hours of March 13, 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was stabbed
outside the apartment building where she lived in Kew Gardens, Queens,
a borough of New York City. Two weeks after the murder, The New York
Times published an article claiming that 38 witnesses saw or heard
the attack, but none of them called the police or came to her aid.
The incident prompted inquiries into what became known as the
bystander effect or "Genovese syndrome", and the murder became
a staple of American psychology textbooks for the next four
decades. However, researchers have since uncovered major
inaccuracies in the New York Times article.
 The Saints represent the answer to
diffusion of responsibility problem by
taking on the work themselves.
 They also represent the small groups of
people who, when faced with an
emergency, step out of the crowd and rise
to action.
 The film establishes the problem of crime
in America and shows that nobody is
doing anything about it.
 The film claims society is sitting by and
watching this happen and that everyone
wants someone else to do something.
THANK YOU!