Past work has shown that bystanders often fail to help a victim in an emergency, because responsibility for helping diffuses over all the bystanders there. In the present experiment, subjects were exposed to a simulated emergency (a choking fit) that occurred in the course of a structured group interaction. Subjects who had been designated as subordinate group members for the experimental task generally failed to come to the victim's aid, consistent with past findings. Subjects who had been designated as group leaders were quite likely to intervene in the emergency, however, even though responding to the emergency meant violating the experimental instructions and thus nullifying their leadership role. The implication is that a leadership role functions as a generalized responsibility cue; so group leaders do not undergo diffusion of responsibility as much as subordinate group members.

Past work has shown that bystanders often fail to help a victim in an emergency, because responsibility for helping diffuses over all the bystanders there. In the present experiment, subjects were exposed to a simulated emergency (a choking fit) that occurred in the course of a structured group interaction. Subjects who had been designated as subordinate group members for the experimental task generally failed to come to the victim's aid, consistent with past findings. Subjects who had been designated as group leaders were quite likely to intervene in the emergency, however, even though responding to the emergency meant violating the experimental instructions and thus nullifying their leadership role. The implication is that a leadership role functions as a generalized responsibility cue; so group leaders do not undergo diffusion of responsibility as much as subordinate group members.

A therapy analogue experiment supported the view that therapist disclosure of religious affiliation can reduce the intimacy of client disclosure. Christian subjects were significantly less intimate in disclosing to a therapist who had disclosed himself to be either a devout Christian or an Orthodox Jew than they were in disclosing to a therapist who had not disclosed any religious beliefs. Jewish subjects were less intimate in their disclosures when paired with a therapist who disclosed himself to be a devout Christian than they were when paired with an Orthodox Jewish therapist or with a therapist who did not disclose religious affiliation. When client and therapist were of the same religion, a positive correlation emerged between the client's religiosity and the intimacy of his disclosure. However, in no condition did subjects disclose more intimately to the therapist who disclosed his religious beliefs than to the nondisclosing therapist. Results are discussed in terms of self-disclosure reciprocity and in terms of the tentative implication that therapist disclosure of religion may not be good for the therapeutic relationship.