‘As with many great changes, nobody had really noticed anything happening until it was too late. People went about their business, wilfully ignorant to the suffering of others.’

We Men of Ash and Shadow

Most of us have at some point or another, visualised what we would do in an emergency. The truth is, as much as we like to envision ourselves rising to become great heroes of the hour (this can be known as the conquering hero daydream, but more on that in another post) until you find yourself in that situation, there is no way of knowing what you would do. And if it does happen, you might be less in control of your reactions than you think.

Of course, people are capable of great acts of heroism. There are plenty of examples of feats of kindness, bravery and selflessness in the world. But, when people don’t act in that way, it’s almost certainly a result of psychological factors and nothing to do with apathy or cowardice.

There are times when, even if we want to act a certain way, our efforts are hampered by our natural inclinations. The human mind is wired for survival. Shock, fear paralysis and cognitive dissonance are very real and common reactions to unanticipated, shocking events.

Even as socially responsible humans, our ability to react to events depend on any number and combination of factors. Our biology, psychology, morality and instincts all have a hand in how we respond to the world around us. Sometimes these factors work in sync and sometimes they don’t. It’s not as easy as being heroes or villains, cowardly or brave – we must fight a constant battle between our subconscious instincts and our conscious decisions.

The Murder of Kitty Genovese

Take for example, the story of Kitty Genovese. The murder of Kitty in 1964, New York, made headlines – not only for the brutality of an attack on a woman in broad daylight, but also because of the reportedly high number of witnesses who observed the event but did nothing to help or intercede. Although later reports claimed the number of witnesses was lower than originally thought, there were still several people who saw the incident take place, yet the police were not called until after Kitty had lost her life. This event helped coin the term ‘Genovese Syndrome’ or ‘The Bystander Effect.’

Whilst our morally conscious selves may automatically feel judgement towards these witnesses and wonder how they could stand by whilst something so horrific happened, we must also strive to understand the psychological reasons behind their lack of action.

Psychologists posit that the ‘Bystander Effect’ is the social-psychological reaction to witnessing a traumatic event in the presence of others. Studies suggest that the more witnesses there are, the less likely that someone will help. Supposedly, the tendency towards inaction can be attributed to three main factors – shared social responsibility, the fear of incomplete information and the innate ‘flight or fight’ mode.

Yes, that’s right, we’re all looking for the more adult-y adult.

Shared social responsibility is the concept that, in any large crowd, the social responsibility to react to a crisis is shared equally among all people. Bystanders are less likely to react in a crowd because we tend to assume there will always be a person of higher responsibility within a large number of people. Yes, that’s right, we’re all looking for the more adult-y adult.

When confronted with an unanticipated event, we often question whether our interpretation of the scene is correct. This was the case for many of the witnesses to the Genovese murder who, when questioned as to why they did not call the police, stated that they had interpreted the situation as a ‘lovers quarrel’ and did not wish to intercede. The lack of reaction from others will further cement our perception that whatever is happening cannot be as bad as first thought.

A secondary effect of incomplete information is the fear that intervening in a situation can have negative or dangerous effects on us as individuals. Simply, many people will not intercede when a mugging occurs because that would divert attention away from the victim to themselves, potentially putting them at risk of attack. To our morally conscious minds this may seem like cowardice, but as mentioned earlier, our brains are wired to protect ourselves.

It doesn’t mean every person will fall prey to the bystander effect. Humans have evolved to understand that we survive longer if we work together. We are naturally cooperative creatures (although a quick scroll through the internet may make it seem otherwise).

The Bystander Effect is just an example of where our conscious and subconscious decision making can conflict. We all like to think that we could be heroes (thanks, David Bowie) – but the truth is that it doesn’t always come naturally.

Doing the right thing socially, morally, and ethically is a decision we make. It takes effort. And in the end, all we can all do is try to be the best people that we can be.

You can find We Men of Ash and Shadow, my gaslamp grimdark low fantasy here.