Imagine an alarm starts sounding in a building.
Before doing anything, you glance around.
If everyone else stands up and leaves, you probably move too.
If nobody reacts, you may wonder whether the alarm is only a test.
Other people’s behavior becomes information.
We use the group to interpret uncertainty
When a situation is unclear, watching other people can be useful.
If everyone seems calm, maybe there is no danger.
If everyone is running, maybe there is.
This shortcut works because groups often contain information we do not have.
The problem appears when everybody is checking everybody else
Suppose everyone hears the alarm.
Nobody knows whether it is serious.
Each person looks at the others.
Everyone tries to appear calm while figuring out what is happening.
Now the room is full of people who look calm because everybody else looks calm.
That can create a false impression that nobody is concerned.
This can involve pluralistic ignorance
Pluralistic ignorance occurs when people privately think one thing but incorrectly assume the group thinks something else.
Everyone may be uncertain.
Everyone may mistakenly read the group’s silence as confidence.
How does this connect with the bystander effect?
In some emergencies, people may be less likely to act when many other people are present.
Several processes can contribute, including diffusion of responsibility and uncertainty about what is happening.
Real emergencies are complicated, so there is no one explanation for every bystander situation.
Why does a direct request help?
Specificity removes ambiguity.
Instead of yelling, “Somebody call 911,” pointing to one person and saying, “You in the blue jacket, call 911,” creates a clear assignment.
Responsibility no longer floats around the group.
Is looking at the group always bad?
No.
Other people can provide valuable information.
The problem is assuming that a calm-looking group must know more than you do.
Sometimes everybody is equally confused.
Groups are useful.
But occasionally everybody is waiting for the group to make the first move.
A related piece of human behavior appears in Why does seeing other people choose something influence us?, where the brain handles another everyday judgment or response.
And that’s the short explanation.
Related explanations: Why does seeing other people choose something influence us?, Why do we copy the people around us?, and Why are we more persuaded by people we like?