In one experiment, subjects were placed in one of three treatment conditions: alone in a room, with two other participants or with two confederates who pretended to be normal participants.
As the participants sat filling out questionnaires, smoke began to fill the room.
-When participants were alone, 75% reported the smoke to the experimenters.
-In contrast, just 38% of participants in a room with two other people reported the smoke.
-In the final group, the two confederates in the experiment noted the smoke and then ignored it, which resulted in only 10% of the participants reporting the smoke.
Why don't people speak up?
Two possible reasons:
Shared responsibility- everyone feels like the responsibility is shared and so they do not feel the pressure to do/say something.
Social Conformity-people feel pressure to act appropriately in situations and have a difficult time responding when no one else is, because they feel it may not be necessary.
http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/bystandereffect.htm
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