In our text this week we learned a few things that have bothered me for a long time. The first being that, if there is something happening around you that should be reported or needs intervening, most people will keep on walking and not jump in to stop.If there is an audience of a few people, most will assume someone else reported it. The other thing is the Sanford prison stimulation. How did it get so out of control? Why didn’t the subject just walk out? Why did the “Guards” get increasingly violent? And why did they not stop the experiment?
Let’s take a look at why some people may act a certain way, adapting to their surroundings. Social proof may be the answer. The principle of social proof states that one way people determine the proper way to act is by looking at the way others are acting. Social proof kicks in when there are groups of people who are ignoring the accident victim. It turns out that instead of safety in numbers, someone that is hurt has a better chance of being helped if only one person is present. Dr. Cialdini notes several studies that support this conclusion.(2010) So when we look at both of the situations I mentioned above, this may be why.
In the prison, the guards got increasingly abusive. This could be not only because of the power they felt but because their “coworkers” were also being abusive. The power may come into play when we see the increase. They want to be the alpha so keep doing more and more to show that.
In the case of not helping when someone is being hurt or in an accident when we see that others are also seeing this, we can also see social proof. If we know for sure someone is hurt we are more likely to step in, as long as it is safe for us to do so. If we are unsure or feel that we will also be harmed, we are not as likely to get help or help ourselves and we assume someone else has already done so.
The problem with this is, if everyone assumes someone else is helping or getting help and they aren’t the victim is suffering longer at minimum or in worse case may even die because help did not arrive fast enough. I would hope that if I saw someone hurt or potentially hurt, that I wouldn’t fall into this group and would help or get help as fast as possible. What do you think you would do if you were in a situation like that?
Why groups of people don’t help accident victims (and what to do about it), part 1. Schuelke Law. (2010, July 8). Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://www.civtrial.com/blog/why-groups-of-people-dont-help-accident-victims-and-what-to-do-about-it-part-1/
Recent Comments