Abstract

The purpose of this study was to see if bystanders reacting (versus not reacting) and the presence (versus no presence) of a public crime post, on a college campus, affected student participants' intent to report a crime. We hypothesized that if bystanders responded to the crime, and if there is a public post about crime reporting, then participants would be more likely to intend to report the crime. Research participants (n = 68) were given an online survey assessing the intent to report the crime and other social norms in one of four vignette conditions: bystanders react/public post, bystanders do not react/public post, bystanders react/no public post, and bystanders do not react/no public post. Our results indicated no significant findings, which is inconsistent with previous literature. The present study suggests that future research should focus on presenting a more realistic study similar to a crime setting in order to obtain more realistic results.

Semester/Year of Award

Spring 2026

Mentor

Cassie M. Whitt

Mentor Department Affiliation

Psychology

Access Options

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Scholars

Degree Level

Bachelors

Department

Psychology

IRB Approval Number (if applicable)

7067

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