Diffusion of Responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility is the psychological effect that if we believe that somebody else may take care of something, we are much less likely to do it. The result is often that nobody takes responsibility.

We can protect ourselves from diffusion of responsibility by

• cultivating our own emotional maturity
• by taking responsibility

Don't wait for somebody else to do it. You can decide, on your own initiative, that it is time to do what is right.

For example, diffusion of responsibility let terrorists hijack the 9/11 planes. But then people stopped taking this attitude: they took personal responsibility, and subsequent terrorists found more resistance from passengers.

It is vital that every one of us — who finds within our hearts the ability to care — place the well-being of the future as our highest priority.

Diffusion of responsibility may be caused in part by the "bystander effect," the tendency for people to not give help when they see other people in the vicinity who could also give help.