When Do We Break Up Someone Else's Drunken Fight?
Take It Outside Adriaen Brouwer via Wikimedia Commons A new study examines when people decide not to mind their own business. When does alcohol-fueled conflict merit intervention? Not as often as you might think, according to a recent study of third-party involvement in bar fights--only about a third of the time does a good Samaritan (or someone spoiling for a fight of their own) jump into the fray. In an effort to examine what situations prompt uninvolved bystanders to step in during bar fights, a team of researchers led by Penn State sociologists examined 860 aggressive incidents in large Toronto bars over the course of 503 nights. Trained observers were sent into bars in pairs, an average of 25.5 nights per person, to be on the lookout for any acts of physical aggression, unwanted physical contact or verbal insults. Any sort of conflict or dispute that made the participants angry or...