The dissemination of responsibility or the spectator effect

You should know one thing ... if you are ever in trouble the possibility you have to help you is inversely proportional to the number of people witnesses of the situation. Is what is known as the dissemination of responsibility or spectator effect. Without a doubt, a quite curious phenomenon, which has caught the attention of psychologists since the 70s.

The dissemination of responsibility or the spectator effect

It all started with The funesto incident of "Kitty Genovese" on March 13, 1964. This 28 -year -old girl returned from working at night and, after parking her car, headed to her house, which was a few meters away. Suddenly, a man assaulted her, began to assault her and proper stab. Several neighbors looked out their windows, but they just look and not say or do anything, despite the screams of the girl.

Finally, one of the neighbors prepared the aggressor, from his window, to leave the girl alone. The aggressor, at first he was cowed and retired leaving the girl twisting on the ground. After 15 minutes, and seeing that nobody did anything, the aggressor returned, raped the girl, stole him and, before leaving, he gave him several more stabs. Someone decided to call the police, but when it came it was too late. Kitty Genovese had died.

This fact It raised the interest of psychologists, not for the murder, but for the fact that for almost an hour 40 people witnessed the facts and nobody did anything to avoid it. This made scientists think of behavior, that the variable that measured in the behavior of the witnesses was due more to the specific situation and the way of interpreting it.

The scientific explanation of the theory of dissemination of responsibility

Dar and Latane (1968) focused their research on analyzing the situational variables and the interpretations of witnesses in emergency situations. In their study they concluded that, the greater the number of spectators, the lower the possibility that any of them will help the person in need.

What does it depend on that we help? First of the cost-benefit relationship and, secondly, the fear that others judge our performance. For example, people may ask the following:

• Am I able to help?
• What am I going to win with this action?
• What can I lose if I help you?
• Why do I have to be if there are more people looking?

In today's society prevails own well -being and individualism. It is not surprising that many people are inhibited when acting, especially if there are more people looking. The dissemination of responsibility precisely refers to this fact. When there are more people on stage, the responsibility between each of the members is attenuated and disseminated. When this happens, the person in question feels less involved with what is happening. Therefore, less motivated to act.

It is something similar to what you already pointed out Gustave Le Bon at the beginning of the 20th century when he pointed out that In the crowds (masses gathered of people) personal responsibility was attenuated And, therefore, they were more prone to irrational or violent behaviors.

References

• Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion of Responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(4p1), 377.
• Latane, b., & Darley, J. M. (1968). Group Inhibition of Bysender Intervention in Emergency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 10(3), 215.
• Le Bon, G. (2018). MASS PSYCHOLOGY. Verbum Editorial.
• Tang, t. L. P., Sutarso, t., Davis, g. M. T. W., Dolinski, d., Ibrahim, a. H. S., & Wagner, S. L. (2008). To Help or Not To Help? The Good Samaritan Effect and The Love of Money On Helping Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(4), 865-887.