For me it's more along the lines of "am I the best person here for this?" and "does anyone else have information I don't?" If you read the research for the bys

For me it's more along the lines of "am I the best person here for this?" and "does anyone else have information I don't?" If you read the research for the bystander effect it's mostly about putting a bunch of people in front of a crisis and seeing how long it takes them to respond. When (minor) crises have happened in front of me, I feel a sense of rising pressure to do something as time passes. When I'm in a position of above baseline expertise (fire marshal in front of a fire, guy with first aid certificate near a probable concussion) it rises faster; when someone else takes charge the pressure goes away. On this basis I think part of the bystander effect happens because something like an informal leader election is taking place.