Bystander Effect and Its Effect on Environment

-by Raymond Tan
The bystander effect (also known as bystander apathy, Genovese syndrome, diffused responsibility or bystander intervention) is a psychological phenomenon in which someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when other people are present and able to help than when he or she is alone.(Darley, J. M. & Latané, B., 1968)

Stated above is the definition of bystander effect. How does this bystander effect affects the environment? Bystander effect on environment is esoteric, known only by those who might have been exposed to some knowledge in psychology. However, the concept is very simple, that is, people's tendency to look at other's reaction before reacting themselves causes them to fail to respond to the ongoing problem.

On the context of environment, this situation is very true. We tend to look at how others would react to environmental problems. If others are indifferent to the plight of environment, then we ourselves are likely to follow suit.

Below is study carried out to determine bystander effect phenomenon:

A 1968 study by John Darley and Bibb Latane first demonstrated the bystander effect in the laboratory. They ran some simple studies such as the following: A participant is placed alone in a room and is told he can communicate with other participants through an intercom. In reality, he is just listening to an audio recording and is told his microphone will be off until it is his turn to speak. During the recording, one participant suddenly pretends he is having a seizure. The study found that how long the participant waits before alerting the experimenter varies directly with the perceived number of other participants. In some cases, the participant never told the experimenter.

A common explanation of this phenomenon is that, with others present, observers all assume that someone else is going to intervene and so they each individually refrain from doing so and feel less responsible. This is an example of how diffusion of responsibility leads to social loafing. People may also assume that other bystanders may be more qualified to help, such as being a doctor or police officer, and their intervention would thus be unneeded. People may also fear losing face in front of the other bystanders, being superseded by a superior helper, or offering unwanted assistance. Another explanation is that bystanders monitor the reactions of other people in an emergency situation to see if others think that it is necessary to intervene. Since others are doing exactly the same, everyone concludes from the inaction of others that other people do not think that help is needed. This is an example of pluralistic ignorance and social proof. An alternative to explanations of rational motivation is that emotional cues to action can be as powerful as irrational ones, and the presence of a group of inactive others is a pre-rational emotional cue to inaction that must be overcome. (Darley, J. M. & Latané, B., 1968)

Bystander effect can explain what are the reasons of the public apathy towards the environmental problems. Despite efforts by World Wide Fund(WWF), Greenpeace, IUCN, UN Environment Programme(UNEP), environmental awareness has been at the low ebb. The lack of public response triggers a chain reaction of indifference. Consequently, environmental conservation progress is slow.

However, bystander effects can be countered by having some pioneers or the so-called "heroes". "Heroes" are able to capture people's attention and causes them to act. Measures that are applied that way nowadays are like celebrity endorsement. Green organizations seek endorsement from celebrities to convince the public about the importance of saving the environment.

Although psychologically constructed that way, we should not take bystander effect as a pretension not to act for the environment. Now that we know what is bystander effect, we should take more effort to ensure that we do not fall into the grasp of one of human's greatest weakness.