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Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials
Published on: November 15, 2014
Prosocial priming and bystander effect in an online context
Costanza Scaffidi Abbate1, Raffaella Misuraca2, Chiara Vaccaro1
1Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Abstract:
The present study tested the effect of priming the concept of prosociality on the bystander effect in an online environment. Participants were sent an e-mail requesting a plea for help and randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (Bystander: 0 vs. 14) × 2 (Priming: present vs. absent) design. The results demonstrated support for the study hypothesis. As expected, the virtual presence of many others significantly reduced e-mail responsiveness except when the request for help is preceded by prosocial priming. Implications of these findings for the literature on the bystander effect and priming are discussed.
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