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The Bystander Effect: The Brutal Murder Of Kitty Genovese

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The Bystander Effect
Ha Luong
Pasadena City College

Bystander Effect
If you witnessed a situation where emergency was needed you would take some sort of action to help the person in need, right? ….aid a stranger in need….. Psychology suggests that whether or not someone takes action can depend on the number of people present, this is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is defined as a situation in which the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation.
The brutal murder of Kitty Genovese is a famous case of the bystander effect. On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered near her home in Queens, New York. The attack lasted nearly an hour in which …show more content…

The experiment consisted of college students communicating with each other about personal problems associated with college life. This was done through microphones and speakers to maintain anonymity. During the experiment one of the subjects appeared to undergo a seizure. The dependent variable was the speed of which the subjects alerted the experimenter of the situation. The independent variable was the number of people the subjects thought to be in the discussion group. During the discussion only one subject could talk at a time. While one microphone was on, all others were off. In the discussion the future victim spoke of his difficulty adjusting to New York City and mentioned being prone to seizures, mainly during strenuous studying or taking exams. The other subjects proceeded to take turns and discuss their problems. The victim spoke again and made relatively calm comments that gradually increased louder and incoherent. “I'm... I'm having a fit... I... I think I'm... help me... I... I can't... Oh my God... err... if someone can just help me out here... I... I... can't breathe p-p-properly... I'm feeling... I'm going to d-d-die if…” The results of this experiment were as predicted, the presence of others reduced the individual’s feelings of personal responsibility and lowered the speed of reporting. The participants that

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