It’s always good to help when possible, BUT...: Obstacles to bystander anti-prejudice

Abstract

Bystander action is an important strategy in combating prejudice and discrimination against minority groups. Seven factors likely to influence intention to act when witnessing prejudice/discrimination were examined among 150 Australian community participants in relation to two scenarios about refugees. One involved a confrontation on a train (high risk), and the other involved hearing a prejudicial joke (low risk). Fear of reprisal was the most significant obstacle to intervention in the high risk scenario and the perception that the incident was not serious enough was the most significant obstacle in the low-risk scenario. As expected, participants indicated an increased likelihood of acting in the low-risk compared to the high-risk scenario