The bystander effect

The Bystander Effect

The bystander effect is something many people probably haven’t heard of. At first thought you probably think it has something standing by someone. Close, but not close enough. Let me ask you a question. If you were at university during a lecture, sitting around about the middle with a packed house, and suddenly the professor just fell on the floor, would get up to help them, or would you wait for someone else up near the front? What if you were sitting in the front row? What it was just you and like, five other people? What if it was just you talking to the professor after class? In some of these situations, you probably would, but in the other ones, maybe not. Studies show that if someone needed help and you were standing in a room full of people, most people would wait for someone else to do something. But as the group size decreased, the more likely someone was to help. This is all due to dependency on others and just sheer nerves. What if you tried to help but just made it worse? What if there was a doctor in training in that lecture? These are limiting factors in our helping of others. Now many of you will say no matter how many people are there, you would help. But the truth is, you probably wouldn’t if there was a group over like, 7 or something. But hey, it’s not personal, it’s just science.