The lack of intervention from bystanders, during Kitty Genovese’s murder, gave rise to many theories regarding dehumanization and apathy. However, when details of the incident were taken into account and analyzed, it was discovered that apathy and indifference were not the reason for this reaction (Darley and Latane, 1968). Serious situations causes irrational fears among people regarding the consequences of their action. Also, depending on the condition, bystander reports can reduce if more people are present, since they feel less responsible to intervene and suffer consequences. Moreover, when actions of other observers are not noticeable, individuals assume that victim is getting help. Therefore, this researched hypothesized that as the number of bystanders present increases, less people are likely to report incident.
METHOD
Participants New York University students were asked to take part in this experiment as a requirement for their psychology course. Fifty- nine females and thirteen males participated in this research.
Apparatus
Subjects were provided with headphones in an isolated room. Experimenter communicated with them through an intercom and controlled discussion using a mechanical switch.
Procedure
Subject was taken …show more content…
Hence, more people reported when they thought they were the only person witnessing the incident, and that too in the first half of measured time. Moreover, subject response time was graphed and Duncan Multiple Range tests were used to find difference between groups. Differences between groups were significant and was revealed that victim was 50% likely to get help when subject was the only person available. Results also showed that victim’s gender and medical experience did not influence the results. Lastly, majority of the subject stated that presence of other bystanders did not influence their