Why do witnesses so often fail to help a stranger in distress? After the 1964 death of Kitty Genovese, psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley proposed that helping is not one choice but five — and a bystander who answers “no” at any step never acts. Walk the decision tree yourself.
Latané & Darley’s five-step path to helping
Five gates to helping: Notice → Interpret → Take responsibility → Know how → Act. A “no” at any gate means no help is given.