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Diffusion of responsibility [1] is a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when other bystanders or witnesses are present. Considered a form of attribution , the individual assumes that others either are responsible for taking action or have already done so.
Much research, mostly in psychology research laboratories, has focused on increasingly varied factors, such as the number of bystanders, ambiguity, group cohesiveness, and diffusion of responsibility that reinforces mutual denial. If a single individual is asked to complete a task alone, the sense of responsibility will be strong, and there ...
Group diffuses responsibility: a diffusion of responsibility throughout the group seems to give members of these groups a free rein to act as they see fit (Wallach, Kogan, & Bem 1964). The emotional bonds that are created within the group serve to decrease anxiety within the group and the actual risk of the situation seems less.
(4) “displacement of responsibility” - "I was just following the orders of my superiors" -is an example of this. (5) “diffusion of responsibility” distributed the accountability from one person to an poorly-defined group. (6) “distortion of consequences” misrepresents the effects of the act as not significant.
Petitt warns that we need to understand groups because they can be very powerful, can effect greater change, and yet the group as a whole may not have a strong conscience (see Diffusion of responsibility). He says we sometimes fail to hold groups (e.g. corporations) responsible because of the difficulties described above.
Additionally, this is a classic example of diffusion of responsibility in that participants looked to an authority figure (the experimenter) instead of being self-aware of the pain they were causing or engaging in self-evaluation which may have caused them to adhere to societal norms.
Pages for logged out editors learn more. Contributions; Talk; Diffused responsibility
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. [1] [2] It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of their members working as individuals.