On Getting Help When You Need It
Sidenote:
There is a replication crisis in the field of Psychology. Many principles in the field were established because of a researcher (or group of researchers) found a pattern of behaviour or thought through their research. The findings became general knowledge of how the mind works. These are the kinds of findings that are taught in undergraduate Psychology lectures. When other groups of researchers tried to do the same experiment (to replicate it), they got different results. This is problematic because it calls into question the results if they are generally true or just in certain circumstances. There has been a recent spat of famous experiments in Psychology that researchers were not able to replicate – calling into question research practices. Research has shown that this has decreased the general level of trust in the discipline of Psychology – something that might be hard to build back up.
We’ve all done it*.
*(I am just guessing here)
Driven by an accident on the side of the road. Didn’t stop. Didn’t call the police.
Don’t worry, friends! You are not alone. There were probably lots of other cars driving by, and I remember I was late getting the kids to swimming lessons…
Why didn’t we do something?
This is the central question behind the Bystander Effect. The idea is that people are less likely to step in and help if other people are present. The larger the number of bystanders, the less likely we are as individuals to help. Research has found that less than 2.5% of Americans received help from strangers in a medical emergency (and that percentage fluctuates a lot based on race). It also is the source of some shocking stories in the news.
There are a couple of other factors that increase or decrease our likelihood to step in:
The degree of perceived emergency (i.e., your grocery bag breaking and things falling everywhere vs. a heart attack)
A risk of harm or actual harm for helping, and fear
Ambiguity of the situation (ex. what is going on? What should I do?)
Group cohesiveness (already knowing the victim – the norm of social responsibility and helping your kin). Unfortunately, this also implies prejudice based on appearance or behaviour.
The theory, initially suggested in the research of social psychologists Latane and Darley (1968), claims that if you were being robbed or faced with violence, bystanders are less likely to come to your aid if there are a large number of people in the area. Pluralistic ignorance might be to blame in people’s perception that an emergency is taking place; if no one else makes a move, we might assume that it’s not actually an emergency. People might feel less responsibility in a larger group, or they might fear acting ineffectively if they did intervene.
Anyone who is interested in wrestling with this subject can ask themselves the hypothetical What Would You Do? an ABC programme with John Quiñones.
If this is starting to sound rather terrifying and you are considering never leaving your house again… FEAR NOT!
The Bystander Effect is Crumbling
The Bystander Effect is another conceptual staple from Psychology that is crumbling in the face of new and contradictory evidence.
Recent research from Lancaster University by Richard Philpot in the journal American Psychologist disputes the Bystander Effect with some real-world evidence.
Using surveillance footage (N = 219) from the Netherlands, the UK, and South Africa of violent situations, they found that in 90% of cases at least one person stepped in to intervene. And actually, in many cases, more than one person intervened. Yay, humanity!
Another striking finding from the study showed that the rate was similar across the three countries – despite widespread perceptions of public violence in South Africa.
More research is needed on how to boost interventions for public safety and security (or online safety), but this is indeed an encouraging finding and reflects positively on human nature. It continues to underscore our need to continue to educate on the topic of empathy to connect with and help others in our society, especially in the face of themes like bullying and discrimination.
If you need a little pick-me-up about humanity, check out ten real-life Good Samaritan Stories posted in the BBC News Magazine. I’ll post my own at the end of this article.
Were you ever a Good Samaritan? Share your stories with Dr. D!
Love,
Dr. D
My Good Samaritan Story.
Near the end of my Ph.D., I was about to take a flight home from London (UK) and had numerous suitcases with me on a London Bus. A woman sitting in a seat ahead of me forgot one of her bags and was already off the bus, walking down the street. As traffic was slow, I jumped out of my seat and told the bus driver that the lady had forgotten her bag. He said he would guard my many suitcases if I ran after her. I trusted the bus driver with my giant suitcases and went sprinting to the woman on the street (realizing the bus could easily have driven off with my stuff - !!! I had my essentials on my person, don’t worry). The woman was so shocked and so grateful, I turned around and bolted back to the bus that had waited for me. I felt great after and I got my exercise in for the day, so that was cool too.
