Step 2. Am I needed

The social context of the situation varied. Some subjects were alone in the room. Others filled out the questionnaire with two other subjects who were strangers. Some subjects were with two accomplices of the researchers who shrugged their shoulders and acted as if nothing were wrong. Social context had a dramatic impact on whether the subjects left the room, presumably to save their lives. Of the students who were alone, 75 percent left the room to report the smoke, but only 10 percent of the subjects with two passive strangers left the room. In fact, many of the subjects in this circumstance later reported that they 

Is this relevant to many work situations How often are environmental hazards or at-risk behavior overlooked or ignored because the social context—other people—gives the signal that nothing is wrong  

in situations where the need for intervention or corrective action is not obvious, people will seek information from others to rmderstand what is going on and to receive direction. This is the typical state of affairs when it comes to safety in the workplace. In fact, the need for proactive actively caring behavior is rarely as obvious as smoke entering a room or the soxmd of a crash. If activators like these occurred in the workplace, many people would likely react in a hurry. Such events would be noticeable and likely would be interpreted as needing attention. 

Would you assume personal responsibility and respond Surely the bystanders in the Kitty Genovese and Deletha Word incidents described earlier noticed the event and interpreted it as requiring assistance. Steps 1 and 2 of Latan6 and Darley s decision model were likely satisfied. The breakdown probably occurred at Step 3—perceiving personal responsibility. 

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