PSYCH 1X03 Lecture 2: Bottleneck
14 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Most individuals have a tendency to determine that someone else in the crowd is more qualified to help someone. This tendency is known as the diffusion of responsibility. The reasons behind why individuals in a group tend to not respond to a human in need is due to the following: Stepping in and taking action in front of others makes people feel self-conscious and uncomfortable therefore they would rather have someone take the initiative to help. People feel as if they don"t have enough expertise to step in, which creates this sense that there must be someone else in the crowd who has skills which are more appropriate for the situation. People look at a cost-benefit ratio, which is the tendency to weigh the benefits of helping someone else in comparison to the negative impacts. Thus, people focus on the risks involved in helping another individual.
