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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 ...
(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.
Where responsibility for a complex problem falls across many different departments of government, even those agencies who wish to tackle the issue are unable to do so. [ 1 ]
Diffusion of responsibility – Sociopsychological phenomenon whereby each person in a group is less likely to take responsibility when others are present. It often causes a shift towards greater risk in decision-making and problem resolution, if two or more people agree together that they know a better way to do something.
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.
The application of social impact varies from diffusion of responsibility to social loafing, stage fright or persuasive communication. In 1981, Latané developed the social impact theory using three key variables: Strength (S) is a net of all individual factors that make a person influential.
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. [15]