Selfish Herd Effect
Raising organizational alarms creates collective response that protects the alarm-raiser.
Alarm calls trigger group flight, creating a stampede. Individual predation risk drops in large, fleeing groups because predators can't target individuals effectively (confusion effect) and are more likely to be trampled. A lone gazelle fleeing silently is conspicuous; a gazelle fleeing within a stampede is invisible within the herd.
This makes alarm calling selfish rather than altruistic: it creates the protective stampede that benefits the caller. The apparent sacrifice of alerting predators is actually self-serving because group flight dilutes individual risk.
Business Application of Selfish Herd Effect
Raising organizational alarms creates collective response that protects the alarm-raiser. Employees who speak up about threats benefit when the organization responds collectively, even if speaking up seems risky individually.