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John M. Darley: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from John M. Darley, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• The more witnesses to an emergency, the less likely any one of them helps

  In 1968 John Darley and Bibb Latané staged fake emergencies and found bystanders grew less likely to intervene as the group grew, since each assumes someone else will act. The effe…

  — John M. Darley and Bibb Latané, Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion of Responsibility

• The more people who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them helps

  After the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese was reported, inaccurately, as having been witnessed by 38 passive neighbours, psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané ran experiments sho…

  — John M. Darley and Bibb Latané, Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion of Responsibility

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