The effect of another bystander's ability to help on bystander intervention in an emergency☆

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Abstract

Previous research in bystander intervention found that the presence of other bystanders reduced the speed of reporting an emergency. The present research tested the hypothesis that it is not the mere presence of others that reduces speed of helping, but how the others are perceived. Specifically, if another bystander is seen as not being able to help, then there should be no effect on the speed with which the S helps. Subjects who thought they were in an ESP experiment overheard what seemed to be an emergency. A “victim” cried out that a bookcase was falling on her; this was followed by a scream and a loud crash. There was no difference in helping behavior between the condition in which there were no other bystanders present and the condition in which the other bystander could not help. However, as predicted, Ss in both of these conditions helped significantly sooner than Ss in the condition in which the other bystander was perceived as being able to help.

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This article is based upon a doctoral dissertation submitted to the City University of New York. The author wishes to express his appreciation to the members of his dissertation committee, Stanley Milgram, Harry Kaufmann, and his chairman, Harold Proshansky. The author also wishes to thank Thomas Henchy, Stanley Milgram, and Peter Pufall for their helpful comments in preparing this paper.

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Copyright © 1971 Published by Elsevier Inc.