TY - JOUR
T1 - Be Aware to Care: Public Self-Awareness Leads to a Reversal of the Bystander Effect.
AU - van Bommel, M.
AU - van Prooijen, J.W.
AU - Elffers, H.
AU - van Lange, P.A.M.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The classic bystander effect stipulates that people help others more when they are alone than when other bystanders are present. We reason that, sometimes, the presence of bystanders can increase helping, notably in situations where public self-awareness is increased through the use of accountability cues (e.g., a camera). We conducted two experiments in which we tested this line of reasoning. In both experiments, participants read messages soliciting support in an online forum. We varied the number of people that were present in that forum to create a bystander and an alone condition. In Study 1, we introduced an accountability cue by making participants' screen-names more salient, and in Study 2, we used a webcam. Both studies indicate that, as expected, the bystander effect can be reversed by means of cues that raise public self-awareness in social settings. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.
AB - The classic bystander effect stipulates that people help others more when they are alone than when other bystanders are present. We reason that, sometimes, the presence of bystanders can increase helping, notably in situations where public self-awareness is increased through the use of accountability cues (e.g., a camera). We conducted two experiments in which we tested this line of reasoning. In both experiments, participants read messages soliciting support in an online forum. We varied the number of people that were present in that forum to create a bystander and an alone condition. In Study 1, we introduced an accountability cue by making participants' screen-names more salient, and in Study 2, we used a webcam. Both studies indicate that, as expected, the bystander effect can be reversed by means of cues that raise public self-awareness in social settings. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.011
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-1031
VL - 48
SP - 926
EP - 930
JO - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
IS - 4
ER -