Final answer:
Bibb Latané and John Darley theorized that the cause of the Genovese incident was 'diffusion of responsibility,' where the presence of multiple witnesses led to a lower chance of intervention due to shared responsibility.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bibb Latané and John Darley, two social psychologists, investigated the cause of the Genovese incident and developed the concept of diffusion of responsibility. They posited that when multiple people witness an emergency, the perception of personal responsibility to intervene is reduced. As more witnesses are present, each individual assumes someone else will take action, which leads to a lower likelihood of anyone intervening. This phenomenon was evident in the murder of Kitty Genovese, where numerous neighbors witnessed the attack but failed to report it to the police promptly.
Their 1968 study, "Group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies," offers insight into prosocial behavior and challenges the assumption that having more witnesses in an emergency situation results in a greater chance of assistance being offered. In reality, the opposite can be true due to the diffusion of responsibility. The insights from this study have significant implications for understanding human behavior in group settings and have influenced subsequent research in social psychology.