... personal responsibility there is for one individual bystander. This diffusion of responsibility explains the inhibition of helping behaviour in stage three. The second process, pluralistic ignorance, focuses on what happens when we look to other bystanders in order to decide whether help is necessary. When studying research relating to the 'diffusion of responsibility', Latane and Darley carried out a study in which students in separate rooms discussed personal problems through an intercom. The discussion was between either two, three or six person groups. During the discussion, one of the participants simulated an epileptic attack. It appears that diffusion of responsibility also occurs in non- serious situations. Latane and Dabbs (1975) conducted 1500 trials with almost 5000 bystanders. In these situations, a person would, for example, drop coins or pencils in a lift. As predicted by the diffusion of responsibility hypothesis, results showed that the probability of helping behaviour in stage ...

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