Preventing the Bystander Effect By Kevin Xu

We’ve all been there: a friend is about to undertake an incredibly ill-advised stunt in front of a crowd of people and you know you should stop them, but instead you watch on with a morbid curiosity. Inevitably, they hurt themselves. You make fun of them for a while, and then feel awful afterwards.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/15199717465548881/

It seems to be an unfortunate circumstance that people are reluctant to intervene in the misadventures of those around us when others are watching. Sometimes it's disinclination to “embarrass” our friends, and sometimes it’s unwillingness to “embarrass” ourselves.

In case you don’t recognize what I’m describing, this is what psychologists call the “bystander effect” whereby people in a large group are less likely to help in an emergency situation or stop poor decisions because their subconscious tells them somebody else will probably help. This unfortunate wrinkle in the human psyche is so pronounced that it has been observed even in five year olds1.

The bystander effect is of particular interest to college students, because of our constant, close contact with one another. The fact that there are so many of us, and that we see each other all the time, means we are particularly susceptible to the bystander effect. With this in mind, college students often have to work to overcome this human fallacy rather than relying on our instincts.

So here are some tips to help you be the best bystander you can be!

1. Take it upon yourself! When people are in large groups, they tend to think that resolving emergencies is the responsibility of the group as a whole, and that their part of the responsibility is therefore small and inconsequential. But if everybody thinks this, it leads to instances of the bystander effect! In order to avoid this, if you are involved in a situation, it may be helpful to assign certain tasks to specific people. For example, if you know someone needs medical attention immediately, point at someone specifically in the crowd and tell them to call 911 instead of yelling it generally at the crowd. Giving somebody a direct role will put the responsibility on them to take action. This is a photo of a hand with a finger pointing at the reader. Source

1

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/04/bystander-effect-in-5-year-olds.html

2. Be aware of the situation. ​If something looks wrong, it never hurts to check. Many emergencies occur because bad situations are allowed to get worse. If you are at a party and notice that someone is passed out in a corner, don’t assume that they will have friends to help them out. Check out the situation by trying to wake up the person.

3. Don’t escalate. ​ ometimes direct confrontation can be the wrong choice when it comes to bystander S intervention and can make the problem worse. Instead, focus on keeping people safe. Oftentimes, simply going over and talking to someone can protect them; there is no need to begin a brawl in the middle of the living room if distracting and leading them away can defuse the situation.

Parties can be hectic; even more so at a large school like Michigan. But even if there are other people around, there is no guarantee that others will take the initiative to stop dangerous situations. If you see something that doesn’t look right or you think may become problematic, don’t let the bystander effect stop you from doing what you think is right.

If you’d like to learn more about bystander intervention, you can read more about it on the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center’s w ​ ebsite​.

Kevin Xu is a sophomore BBA student in the Ross School of Business. He plans on studying finance, but is realistic about the possibility that he will actually do no studying at all and instead play Counter-Strike. His hobbies include reading, incessantly quoting Kubrick movies, and making sure the three high school friends he lives with avoid dangerous situations.