John M. Darley

For other people named John Darley, see John Darley (disambiguation).
John M. Darley
Born
John McConnon Darley

(1938-04-03)April 3, 1938
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.[1]
DiedAugust 31, 2018(2018-08-31) (aged 80)
Lawrenceville, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materSwarthmore College
Harvard University
Known forResearch on the bystander effect
AwardsFellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2005, Distinguished Science Award from Society of Experimental Social Psychology (1997)
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
Public affairs
InstitutionsPrinceton University
ThesisFear and Social Comparison as Determinants of Conformity Behavior (1965)
Doctoral advisorDavid Marlowe
Doctoral studentsMichael Norton

John M. Darley (April 3, 1938 – August 31, 2018) was an American social psychologist and professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.[2] Darley is best known, in collaboration with Bibb Latané, for developing theories that aim to explain why people might not intervene (i.e. offer aid) at the scene of an emergency when others are present; this phenomenon is known as the bystander effect and the accompanying diffusion of responsibility effect. This work stemmed from the tragic case of Kitty Genovese, a New Yorker who was murdered in March 1964 while 38 people either witnessed or heard her struggling with the assailant.[3] Darley also studied the effect of assessment on performance and proposed Darley's Law, which states that “The more any quantitative performance measure is used to determine an individual’s rewards, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more it will distort the action and thought patterns of those it is intended to monitor.”[4]

  1. ^ "John McConnon Darley". Dean of the Faculty. Princeton University. Archived from the original on 16 September 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Bio". wws.princeton.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-08-12. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  3. ^ Latané, B., & Darley, J. M. (1970). The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn't he help? New York: Appleton-Century-Croft
  4. ^ Darley J.M. The dynamics of authority in organizations and the unintended action consequences Darley J.M., Messick D.M., Tyler T.R., Social Influences on Ethical Behavior in Organizations L.A. Erlbaum Assoc Mahwah, NJ 2001 37-52