What makes a person get up from his seat on an airplane, force his way into the cockpit, and intervene in a situation he doesn't fully understand, especially when doing so could cost him his life?
That question came up after the dramatic incident aboard the Flydubai flight. The facts as known at this writing: the co-pilot attacked the captain in an attempt to seize control of the aircraft and crash it. An Israeli woman passenger noticed something suspicious and screamed for help. Three other Israeli passengers entered into the cockpit, neutralized the co-pilot, and stabilized the plane. Beyond the extraordinary human story, the incident offers a window into a familiar social phenomenon: the bystander effect.
The Danger of the Silent Majority
The bystander effect describes a situation in which the presence of other people actually reduces the likelihood that any one person will offer help. The most famous case is the story of Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old woman returning home from work to her apartment building in Queens, New York. On her way to the building, a man attacked her with a knife. She was wounded, tried to escape, and he continued to chase and attack her. According to reports, the incident lasted a long time. The story published afterward in the New York Times claimed that dozens of people heard or saw parts of the incident, but none of them intervened.
Darley and Latané, two American researchers, showed that the phenomenon occurs not only in situations of helping another person, but also in emergencies where the person himself is in danger. In their famous experiment, when smoke began seeping into a room, subjects sitting alongside other people were less likely to report the smoke than people sitting alone.
But here an interesting question arises, connecting psychology and sociology: does the bystander effect also have a cultural context?
Social Barriers and Behavioral Norms
One explanation for non-intervention is uncertainty. The person doesn't know whether an emergency is actually occurring, and he looks to others to understand how to interpret the situation. If no one is reacting, he may conclude there's really no reason to worry. In addition, there's also the question of norms: maybe this isn't my responsibility? Maybe I'm interfering? Maybe others will judge me if I intervene unnecessarily?
Now let's turn our gaze to Israeli culture.
Jewish tradition recognizes an obligation not to remain indifferent to another's suffering, for example, the commandment "do not stand idly by your neighbor's blood," the mitzvah of returning a lost object, and the duty to help even in unloading the burden of someone you don't like. The sayings "all Israel are brothers" and "all Israel are responsible for one another" express a cultural code of concern for others, and sometimes even excessive interference in another's life.
