What is the bystander effect in sociology?

Answer:

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

For example: There was a much publicized case in 1970 in NYC where a man stabbed a woman, dragging her from one block to another for about two hours. till he finally killed her. At least 38 people watched part or all of this protracted murder. In other words, they were bystanders and not one of them called the police. When asked later why not, they nearly all said that as there were so many people watching they assumed that somebody had already called the police.


The bystander effect means that people are less likely to respond (i.e. to help someone getting beat up) if they are in a crowd of people, because of diffusion of responsibility - they think that someone else will help the person. Because everyone thinks this, rarely does anyone take action.
First answer by ID0416234241. Last edit by Joncey. Contributor trust: 4626 [recommend contributor recommended]. Question popularity: 4 [recommend question].