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Explaining The Bystander Effect

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Researcher Laurel Woodruff asked a classmate from Liberty University a simple question. Miss Jones, was asked: “How likely are you to help somebody if they appear to be in need of assistance?”. Jones responded by saying that she was extremely likely to assist someone and facilitate their needs. When given a specific question; “If you witness a person fall on a crowded sidewalk full of fast-paced bystanders, would you help them?”, Jones stood by her original response of extremely likely. However, after further dialogue concerning the hypothetical situation, Jones had changed her mind. Jones proceeded to say that she would be likely to help only if she noticed that no one else appeared to be helping. Her response supports the idea that if a large number of people obviously witness such a situation, the less likely an individual such as herself may be to help. This idea is also known as the bystander effect. In a book called Social Psychology, E. Aaronson, T.D. Wilson, and R.M.

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