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1977•Japanese Psychological ResearchOpen access

EFFECTS OF BYSTANDER DENSITY UPON ALTRUISTIC BEHAVIOR

Osamu Iwata

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Abstract

College students participated in a questionnaire study. The questionnaire booklet contained 11 pairs of situational descriptions in which someone in distress needed help. All pairs were dissociated and the 22 situations randomly ordered. One situation of each pair represented high bystander density and the other low. Subjects were requested to choose an altruistic or less altruistic response to each situation. Results were very similar for male and female samples. The bystander density was a determinant of altruistic behavior. The degree of altruism was a mediating factor of helping behavior in some situations. Sex, community size, experience of residential move, interpersonal affiliation, and trust in humans were negligible or weak intervening factors in the effect of bystander density upon altruistic behavior.

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College students participated in a questionnaire study. The questionnaire booklet contained 11 pairs of situational descriptions in which someone in distress needed help. All pairs were dissociated and the 22 situations randomly ordered. One situation of each pair represented high bystander density and the other low. Subjects were requested to choose an altruistic or less altruistic response to each situation. Results were very similar for male and female samples. The bystander density was a determinant of altruistic behavior. The degree of altruism was a mediating factor of helping behavior in some situations. Sex, community size, experience of residential move, interpersonal affiliation, and trust in humans were negligible or weak intervening factors in the effect of bystander density upon altruistic behavior.

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Available abstract

College students participated in a questionnaire study. The questionnaire booklet contained 11 pairs of situational descriptions in which someone in distress needed help. All pairs were dissociated and the 22 situations randomly ordered. One situation of each pair represented high bystander density and the other low. Subjects were requested to choose an altruistic or less altruistic response to each situation. Results were very similar for male and female samples. The bystander density was a determinant of altruistic behavior. The degree of altruism was a mediating factor of helping behavior in some situations. Sex, community size, experience of residential move, interpersonal affiliation, and trust in humans were negligible or weak intervening factors in the effect of bystander density upon altruistic behavior.

Key concepts: Bystander effect, Altruism (biology), Psychology, Helping behavior, Situational ethics, Social psychology, Interpersonal communication, Developmental psychology

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