the siblings really want to take on the responsibility of raising Luke, each of
them will expect one of the others to do it. Perhaps no one will act, or they will
be very slow to do so.
On the other hand, let’s imagine a different scenario. Janna has only a sister
and no brothers. Now Janna’s sister feels the entire responsibility to raise Luke.
She experiences tremendous pressure to come through and do the socially
expected thing. Consequently, she responds and takes Luke into her home.
The diffusion hypothesis is usually used to explain bystander apathy,a ten-
dency of individuals to do nothing to help out in a crisis if there are a lot of other
people around. For example, if someone collapses and seems to be having a heart
attack on a busy city street, many people will walk by and glance at the victim
without doing anything. On the other hand, if the same thing happens in a small
town, the witnesses to the person’s plight are much more likely to come forward
and render aid. The interpretation of this behavior is not that people in the city
are cold and unfeeling and that people in a small town are warm and understand-
ing. The explanation is in terms of the diffusion hypothesis. A person in the city
may think, “Someone else will help. And I’m already late for work.” A person in
a small town may think, “I better give a hand. There’s no one else to help.”
Bystander apathy represents a failure to conform to social expectations. But the
logic of the diffusion hypothesis lends itself to also explaining, as indicated above,
conformity.
(a) The hypothesis suggests that we are less likely to conform to social expec-
tations if we perceive ourselves as carrying only an insignificant portion of an overall
responsibility to act.
(b) is a tendency of individuals to do nothing to help out in a crisis if there are
a lot of other people around.
Answers: (a) diffusion; (b) Bystander apathy.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: The Square Peg Can’t Fit
in the Round Hole
Social behavior can often be explained in terms of a need to reduce cognitive dis-
sonance. Cognitive dissonanceis a mental state created when opposed ideas
exist simultaneously at a conscious level. Idea A is, so to speak, like a square peg.
Idea B is like a round hole. The two ideas are mutually exclusive and can’t be fit
together. Nonetheless, they coexist, at least for a time. And this produces a state
of mental and emotional discomfort. The concept of cognitive dissonance was
proposed by the social psychologist Leon Festinger.
Social Psychology: Interacting with Other People 257
