What Do We Know About Proximal Factors Influencing Bystander Intervention? A Call for Momentary Assessment and Intervention

Bystander intervention (BI) is among the most extensively studied phenomena in social psychology, with theoretical models underscoring a range of situational factors that influence helping behavior. Yet, despite considerable attention and emphasis placed on understanding these processes, we know very little about momentary and dynamic factors that effect actual BI in real-time. This is especially problematic because BI prevention programs are designed to promote in-the-moment behavioral responses to emergent risk, yet the evidence base supporting their use relies predominantly on cross-sectional retrospective self-reports, intervention-likelihood paradigms, and other proxy outcomes with limited external and ecological validity. Due to longstanding methodological constraints, our collective knowledge of how proximal and situational factors directly influence real-world BI behavior remains limited, yet understanding how event-level influences such as acute alcohol intoxication impact BI is essential for creating effective sexual violence prevention programming. In this debate paper, we synthesize the current literature on proximal influences of BI and propose a framework to guide future research using ecologically valid, real-time momentary assessment methods.