Diffused Responsibility Hypothesis

Abstract

Diffusion of responsibility is a social phenomenon occurring in groups when, in circumstances requiring moral responsiveness or action, the imperative to do so is dispersed among group members so that, each expecting or assuming the others have acted or will act, no one takes action. Group identity provides each member with anonymity, eliminating individual accountability. It is a psychological mechanism leading to widespread injustice, and, in this sense, it is the opposite of moral agency. As group size grows, the imperative for personal action is increasingly muted. Individuals each shift the obligation to act to unnamed others, viewing their own agency as unnecessary, creating a void of leadership. When everyone is potentially responsible, no one is actually responsible. Diffusion of responsibility is a process of neutralization. It allows harmful, immoral, or illegal objectives to be accomplished by a group or movement. If each member contributes to the objective, but no one member ...