This essay will address prosocial behaviour in the context of heroism and what would influence a bystander to intervene in an emergency. This essay will also explore the differences between altruism and egoism. Prosocial behaviour is positively valued by the society consists of diverse acts that intentionally benefit someone else. In Little Egg Harbour Township, New Jersey. On October 4th 2010 Cara Ellis died attempting to rescue her fifty-two year old neighbour Bryan Mueller from assault. Bryan Mueller collapsed on the ground after a man on the second floor of a nearby townhouse shot him with a semi-automatic rifle. Cara Ellis was a twenty-one year old homemaker who heard the shots from her nearby townhouse which was two doors away, as did …show more content…
Each of these five steps are vulnerable to disruption, which would lead to the bystander chosing not to intervene.Darley and Latané subsequently determined that the degrees of responsibility a bystander feels is dependent on three things: Whether or not the victim is deserving of help, the competance of the bystander, the relationship between the bystander and the victim. The degree of responsibility a bystander feels would determine the bystanders implementation of a decision. Cara Ellis clearly felt that the victim, Bryan Mueller, was deserving of help after hearing the shots and determining the situation as an emergency. The relationship between Cara Ellis and Bryan Mueller were neighbours so their relationship can be considered personal. The consequences or rather the costs of Cara Ellis' intervention were high in comparison to benefits. By attempting to rescue Bryan Mueller, Cara Ellis lost her life. The benefits that Cara Ellis may have inccured is a sense of relief from empathic concern for Bryan Mueller. Bystanders are less likely to provide help if the costs are high, considerable physical danger, and the costs for not intervening are low, little or no public