Editing Diffusion of responsibility (section)

=== Bystander effect ===

Rising from the unfortunate case of [[Murder of Kitty Genovese|Catherine ''"''Kitty" Genovese]], the bystander effect is a psychological notion that came to light in the 1960s. Catherine Genovese's case seems to cast a predominantly daunting light on human behavior. The event highlights the lessening of the likelihood of a person taking immediate action in a certain situation while part of a group or around other people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallo |first1=Marcia M. |title='No One Helped': Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy |date=2015 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-5589-6 }}{{page needed|date=January 2023}}</ref>

Darley and Latané (1968) performed a study that viewed whether the presence of other bystanders would affect the likelihood and speed of which the subjects would respond to hearing another subject (a confederate) having a seizure. The subjects either believed they were in a two-person group, three-person group, or a six-person group.  The researchers concluded that subjects were less likely to help the greater the number of bystanders, demonstrating the [[bystander effect]].<ref name="darley crisis">{{cite journal |last1=Darley |first1=John M. |last2=Latane |first2=Bibb |title=When will people help in a crisis? |journal=Psychology Today |date=1968 |volume=2 |issue=7 |pages=54–57, 70–71 |doi=10.1037/E400142009-006 |s2cid=56994921 }}</ref><ref name="Barron Yechiam 2002"/>

The bystander effect<ref name="Darley J">{{cite journal | last1 = Darley | first1 = J. M. | last2 = Latané | first2 = B. | s2cid = 9665680 | year = 1968 | title = Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | volume = 8 | issue = 4, Pt.1| pages = 377–383 | doi=10.1037/h0025589| pmid = 5645600 }}</ref> is a specific type of diffusion of responsibility—when people's responses to certain situations depend on the presence of others. The bystander effect occurs when multiple individuals are watching a situation unfold but do not intervene (or delay or hesitate to intervene) because they know that someone else could intervene, and they feel less responsibility to do so.<ref name="Darley J"/> This is directly caused by the diffusion of responsibility, as it is shown that individuals are much less likely to intervene in a situation when he or she knows others are watching; thus, the responsibility for helping is spread among the group of bystanders, and each bystander does not feel a strong responsibility to do so, so no one helps.<ref name="Darley J"/>

However, it has been shown that people's responses and levels of aid can change depending on the type of situation (emergencies versus non-emergencies) as well.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fischer|first=Peter|date=2011|title=The Bystander-Effect: A Meta-Analytic Review on Bystander Intervention in Dangerous and Non-dangerous Emergencies|journal = Psychological Bulletin|volume=137|issue=4|pages=517–537|doi=10.1037/a0023304|pmid=21534650}}</ref>