Measuring global bystander intervention and exploring its antecedents for helping refugees

Abstract

Although the bystander intervention model provides a useful account of how people help others, no previous study has applied it to a global emergency. This research aims to develop a scale for measuring global bystander intervention and investigate its potential antecedents in the Syrian refugee emergency. In Study 1 (N = 80) and Study 2 (N = 205), a 12‐item scale was established through a substantive‐validity assessment and a confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. Study 3 (N = 601) explored the potential antecedents of the global bystander intervention, employing British and German samples. Results show that the global bystander intervention model worked for both samples, but there were significant between‐group differences in terms of the extent to which they notice the emergency, know how to help, show political support, and donate money. Overall, the visibility of the global emergency aftermaths within the context has been deduced as a meaningful driver for between‐group differences. This research provides the first empirical evidence on global bystander intervention and it offers timely suggestions to promote support for refugees or other victims of global disasters, especially among those who are distant to the disaster zone.

Effects of the severity of collective threats on people's donation intention

“…Furthermore, people may develop multiple social identities based on their personal experiences. The impact of a social identity on people's behavior is determined by the salience of the identity (Albayrak‐Aydemir & Gleibs, 2021; Choi et al, 2017). Guegan et al (2017) showed that social identity cues such as group names can enhance the salience of social identity among students and thus increase students' intention to cooperate and work together.…”

The habituation fallacy: Disaster victims who are repeatedly victimised are assumed to suffer less, and they are helped less

“…These results are important and add to the extant literature in significant ways. Many factors have been discussed as driving disaster giving (see e.g., Albayrak‐Aydemir & Gleibs, 2021; Bekkers & Wiepking, 2011; Berman et al., 2018; Bloom, 2017; Cuddy et al., 2007; Dickert et al., 2011; Evangelidis & Van den Bergh, 2013; Hsee et al., 2013; Kogut, 2011; Kogut et al., 2015; van Leeuwen & Täuber, 2012; Zagefka & James, 2015). Significant perceived suffering caused by an event is clearly a powerful factor that propels donors into action.…”

“…Of course, many factors have been demonstrated to affect helping intentions in the context of humanitarian disasters specifically and intentions to donate to charity more broadly (see e.g., Albayrak‐Aydemir & Gleibs, 2021; Bekkers & Wiepking, 2011; Berman et al., 2018; Bloom, 2017; Cuddy et al., 2007; Dickert et al., 2011; Evangelidis & Van den Bergh, 2013; Hsee et al., 2013; Kogut, 2011; Kogut et al., 2015; van Leeuwen & Täuber, 2012; Zagefka, 2021a; Zagefka & Sun, 2021). For example, perceived social norms regarding prosociality (Lay et al., 2020; Martin & Randal, 2008) and attributions for the root cause of the problem (Chapman & Lickel, 2016) have been shown to be impactful.…”

The Opinions of Poles about the Need to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Refugees from the Area Covered by the Russian–Ukrainian War

“…The position of the refugees described in the literature is a multi-faceted problem and puts them as people who need comprehensive support [ 34 ]. Researchers show that a global attitude towards refugees or other victims of global disasters is noticeable, especially among those who are far from the disaster zone [ 35 ]. In the last part (module 4) respondents disclosed concerns about the ongoing war.…”