Bystander Effect in Business

Summary
According to the authors, the bystander effect, or the commonly-accepted notion that individuals are less likely to intervene if they believe others are likely to do so, is affected by both personal and situational factors. Factors such as empathetic sympathy for the victim and a sense of personal distress can facilitate a bystander being willing to assist (Hortensius et al., 2016). This can be driven both by altruism or egotistical behavior, in other words by the desire to look more noble versus to avoid psychological discomfort on the part of the individual providing assistance (Hortensius et al., 2016).
Based on an experiment using cued reaction time, the authors found that character traits were a significant influence on the extent to which the bystander effect was manifest (Hortensius et al., 2016). While perceived personal distress and a feeling of sympathy for the victim resulted in a faster response to the emergency situation staged in the experiment, individuals that had been measured to have a more self-centered response to crisis based upon a desire to avoid feeling distress showed a more manifest bystander response (Hortensius et al., 2016).
Critique
This article highlights the importance of trait-based analysis when selecting individuals for particular professional tasks. Helping others, including customers and fellow employees, is a critical part of organizational development. Many businesses are placing more and more of an emphasis on character versus skills when selecting employees. This article supports such a tactic.
Although there are psychological tendencies manifest in all social situations, not all individuals are equally affected. For a business requiring altruistic responses and proactive behaviors, individuals who are genuinely motivated by empathy with others, rather than individuals who simply seek to egotistically avoid feeling discomfort, are required. Seeking evidence of an empathetic response is important in job selection or in assigning tasks and team positions. Using character-based screening seems supported by this study, and is something I would not have previously considered using in selecting personnel.