Inhibition of helping behavior by a similar or dissimilar nonreactive fellow bystander.

Male subjects observed a female experimenter suffering apparent physical under one of three conditions: (a) alone, (6) in the presence of a nonreactive confederate supposedly similar to themselves in attitudes, or (c) in the presence of a dissimilar nonreactive confederate. On the basis of Festinger's social comparison theory, it was predicted that subjects exposed to the similar nonreactive fellow bystander would be less likely to intervene to help the lady in distress than would be the case when subjects were exposed to a dissimilar nonreactive other. The results strongly supported this prediction. Only 5% of the subjects in the similar fellow bystander condition intervened, compared with an intervention rate of 35% in the dissimilar other condition. In the alone condition, 65% of the subjects intervened to help the victim. Subjects in the dissimilar other condition who failed to intervene showed a significant increase in both emitted and expected attraction in relation to the nonreactive fellow bystander. A good deal of recent empirical attention has focused on social and situational factors influencing emergency intervention behavior. A repeatedly demonstrated finding in laboratory studies has been that the presence of fellow bystanders in an emergency has an inhibitory effect on helping behavior (Darley & Latane, 1968; Latane & Rodin, 1969). A particularly strong inhibitory effect on emer