Citation

Hortensius R, Schutter DJLG, de Gelder B. Cogn. Affect. Behav. Neurosci. 2014; 15(2): 505.

Affiliation

Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.3758/s13415-014-0326-3

PMID

25465672

Abstract

Research has shown that the presence of bystanders during an emergency reduces helping behavior, whereas sympathy and personal distress have been suggested to promote helping behavior. Here, we sought to determine the influences of sympathy, an other-oriented response, and personal distress, a self-oriented response, on the effect of group size during an emergency. In three experiments, we investigated whether trait levels of sympathy and personal distress predicted responses to an emergency with different group sizes. Reaction times in a cued reaction time task and motor corticospinal excitability levels, as assessed by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation, were used to obtain measures of action preparation during an emergency. The results showed that people who reported higher levels of personal distress and sympathy responded faster to an emergency without bystanders in a cued reaction time task (Exp. 1). However, only trait personal distress predicted the slowing of reaction times when group size increases during an emergency (Exp. 2). Reductions in motor corticospinal excitability with increasing group size were found to be predicted by personal distress (Exp. 3). These results indicate that group size reduces action preparation, and this effect is enhanced in people with a disposition to experience self-centered emotional reactions to emergency situations.

Language: en