Psychological knowledge 01 -Bystander effect

Bystander effect

"Responsibility decentralization effect" is also known as "bystander effect", which means that in a group, the individual's sense of responsibility will be weakened, and the attitude of not caring about himself.

The recent rampant beating incident in Tangshan is fermenting. Regardless of identity and background, we express strong indignation over the brutal beating in broad daylight in the video. Those who cannot control their own behavior and cause harm to others should bear the legal consequences. From this, we can see that the onlookers, those who tried to persuade others to fight, were also beaten, and others were afraid to give help because of fear. This reminds us of the bystander effect of psychology.

The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation, against a bully, or during an assault or other crime. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is for any one of them to provide help to a person in distress. People are more likely to take action in a crisis when there are few or no other witnesses present.

How to be an active bystander? The intervention of bystanders is often the only reason why bullying and other crimes cease. The social and behavioral paralysis described by the bystander effect can be reduced with awareness and, in some cases, explicit training. Secondary schools and college campuses encourage students to speak up when witnessing an act of bullying or a potential assault.

How can you overcome the bystander effect? When training yourself to be an active bystander, it helps to cultivate qualities like empathy. Try to see the situation from the victim’s perspective. Worry less about the consequences of helping and more about the example you are setting for future generations. If you are the victim, pick out one person in the crowd and make eye contact. People’s natural tendencies towards altruism may move them to help if given the chance.

It is also widely used in the workplace and life. As a leader, it is better to assign tasks to each person, which is more conducive to improving work efficiency and completion. As an employee, if you don't want to be entangled by the boss, you can take the initiative to apply for dividing the work content and choose to undertake the work independently. Sometimes there is no response to a question in the group (the more people there are in the group), you can manually @someone, the more response you can get.