Funds

The project was supported by the Excellence Initiative in Jagiellonian University research funds.

Researchers

Małgorzata Kossowska, Paulina Szwed, Aneta Czernatowicz-Kukuczka, Jolanta Perek Białas, Ewa Szumowska, Arie W. Kruglanski, Kaja Gadowska, Marta Kaminska & Wojciech Załuski

Goal of the project

A robust field of research indicates when and why people are willing to offer help in crises. Yet helping behavior does not always occur when it would be needed. The non-occurrence of helping in crisis is less well known and thus requires explanation. By considering a broad definition of crisis as an extremely difficult, disruptive and dangerous point in a situation that may result in possible harm to individuals, groups, and societies, this article describes a scoping review of the literature focused on one broad question: What factors (psychological, sociological, economic, and legal) prevent people from helping others in times of collective crisis? The present work brings together, synthesize, and critique findings from the literature on (non)helping behaviors during crises from 1945s to 2022 and provides an overall impression of the extent, nature, and quality of evidence in relation to our research question, highlighting gaps between what we know and what we need to know. The overarching theoretical perspective of this review has been informed by motivational readiness theory (Kruglanski et al., 2014) focusing on the factors that impede motivation and thus behavioral choices facilitating helping in crises/emergencies.