Discuss research evidence relating to Human Altruism and/or bystander behaviour When studying the explanations of bystander behaviour, Latane and Darley

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Zara Aslam

Psychology A-level

Essay- Pro and Anti-Social Behaviour

Discuss research evidence relating to Human Altruism and/or bystander behaviour

When studying the explanations of bystander behaviour, Latane and Darley (1970) formulated the decision model, which is a five stage model to explain why bystanders at emergencies sometimes do and sometimes do not offer help. Before bystanders intervene, they go through a series of stages. At first, they must notice the situation, then they must interpret as to whether or not it is an emergency, they must then decide to accept some personality and then consider what the best form of intervention is. Lastly, at stage five, they must decide how to implement their intervention. At each stage of this model, observers may make a decision that inhibits helping. Latane and Darley identified two distinct psychological processes that might explain the social inhibition effect. If one emergency is witnessed by more than one person, the less the personal responsibility there is for one individual bystander. This diffusion of responsibility explains the inhibition effect. If an emergency is witnessed by more than one person, the less the personal responsibility there is for one individual bystander. This diffusion of responsibility explains the inhibition of helping behaviour in stage three. The second process, pluralistic ignorance, focuses on what happens when we look to other bystanders in order to decide whether help is necessary.

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When studying research relating to the ‘diffusion of responsibility’, Latane and Darley carried out a study in which students in separate rooms discussed personal problems through an intercom. The discussion was between either two, three or six person groups. During the discussion, one of the participants simulated an epileptic attack. It appears that diffusion of responsibility also occurs in non- serious situations. Latane and Dabbs (1975) conducted 1500 trials with almost 5000 bystanders. In these situations, a person would, for example, drop coins or pencils in a lift. As predicted by the diffusion of responsibility hypothesis, results showed that the ...

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