The Bystander | By Lakshaniyaa Viswanathan
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| by @yougogirlslayy @calla.lilyn |
Imagine being attacked in broad daylight — and everyone around you just whips out their phones to hit record, instead of giving a helping hand. This is the bystander effect, a psychological phenomenon where people are less likely to help in emergencies when others are present, because we assume that someone else might step in to help. The more people present, the stronger the bystander effect is (Cherry, 2025). Think about it: have you ever walked past someone in distress, thinking someone else would help, or driven past a car accident, trusting someone else would pull over? Chances are, the answer is yes, and if so, it does not make you a bad person. The bystander effect has been studied for decades, but it is food for thought: if all of us assume someone else will step in to help, who actually will?
Let’s consider a hypothetical but plausible scenario. One we see all the time in fiction and media: someone experiencing a sudden seizure in public. Many people are present, but instead of helping, chances are the majority of people either stand frozen, start recording on their phones or add to the confusion by shouting—upping the tension without any meaningful intervention. Only a rare few, besides first responders, would step in to assist the affected individual. If uploaded, the footage taken could arguably help raise situational awareness regarding sudden medical emergencies. But what if more people had stepped in? Or worse, what if no one had? Would the victim have survived? Would their injuries have been worse?
Today, it has become increasingly common for people not only to shift the responsibility of helping onto others, but for their first course of action to be to whip out their phones to record, rather than react. It would be a matter of moments before the videos of the incident gain traction on social media. Yes, they might spark discussions and raise awareness — but what happens to the people actually involved in the incident? What happens to their safety, their recovery, and their well-being? Are we really helping them, or are we just simply spectating? It raises the question: are we documenting these moments to raise awareness, or are we simply displacing the responsibility of helping others in exchange for views and viral content?
Connecting this back to the bystander effect, this phenomenon is the result of several factors, such as the diffusion of responsibility, fearing social judgment to avoid being the odd one out of the crowd by offering help, the lack of clarity on the occurrence or context of the situation, or even bystander apathy (Cherry, 2025). When something is clearly wrong, but no one else reacts, we are less likely to react as well. This is known as pluralistic ignorance, the mistaken notion that since no one else seems concerned, the situation must not be serious enough to act on (Nickerson, 2023). As a result, many unfortunate incidents and consequences have occurred. One such example is the case of Kitty Genovese, a woman who was stalked and murdered in 1964 as a result of the lack of action by her neighbours, some of whom had witnessed the attacks she suffered from (Ruhl, 2023). While lately it has been proven that fewer bystanders did not intervene, it still raises the question of if someone had intervened earlier, would Kitty have been saved?
Relating this to the context of our world today, more and more people are seen to be less and less concerned with the welfare of those around them, resulting in them oftentimes not lending a hand compared to times they do. The eroding sense of “we” and an increased sense of individualism and loneliness in most communities today, termed as “the loneliness epidemic” by scientists (Ross, 2024), can be observed through the increased likelihood and prevalence of the bystander effect. Ironically, this is more so the case now than ever, despite the deep interconnectedness that technology and social media offer, with people being more disconnected while being constantly online. When there is a lack of connection with others, we also feel less responsible for them. This is a huge contrast compared to the strong sense of community the older generations had with their neighbours, as they only had each other to depend on during tough times, compared to those who currently live in urban societies where resources are readily available at our fingertips.
In the face of this growing loneliness epidemic, perhaps the best way forward is to be the change ourselves, by being the person who offers a hand, not a camera, when we see someone in need.
(748 words)
Citations
1. Cherry, K. (2025, February 19). How Psychology Explains the Bystander Effect. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-bystander-effect-2795899
2. Nickerson, C. (2023, April 13). Pluralistic Ignorance: Definition & Examples. Www.simplypsychology.org. https://www.simplypsychology.org/pluralistic-ignorance.html
3. Ross, E. (2024, October 25). What is Causing Our Epidemic of Loneliness and How Can We Fix It? Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it
4. Ruhl, C. (2023, August 3). What Happened to Kitty Genovese? Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Kitty-Genovese.html
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