A Literature Review of Diffusion of Responsibility Phenomenon

Abstract

The concept of the diffusion of responsibility has been well studied with sufficient empirical attention. However, there is no literature review on this topic currently, so this review aimed to examine the existed literature on the topic of the diffusion of responsibility. Google Scholar and Baidu Scholar were used as the research database and "diffusion of responsibility" "group" "awareness" "culture" "bystander effect" were used as search keywords. In this review, we selected the college class and charity donation situations to show the pervasiveness of the phenomenon of the diffusion of responsibility to show its pervasiveness in daily life. Then, the potential causes of the diffusion of responsibility as the group size, self-awareness, and culture were discussed. Lastly, we examined the phenomenon of the bystander effect, helping behavior, social loafing, and risk-taking behavior as the effects of the diffusion of responsibility. This work presented a systematic review on the topic of the diffusion of responsibility, and it laid a foundation for future related work.