The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a real problem that refers to cases in which real people do not help a victim when other people are present. In other words, the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help. Several variables contribute to explaining why the effect occurs. These variables include: cohesiveness diffusion of responsibility and ambiguity. Many tragedies could have been prevented or altered for the better if bystanders would have acted the right way. Here are some examples: a murder that could have been prevented, people being affected by weather or not he sees somebody else act, the decisiveness of a person and the guilt a person might acquire. (Wikipedia Contributors).
It was Friday 13 March in 1964, when the 28 year old Catherine Genovese arrived at her home in her neighbourhood from her late night shift as the bar manager in Queens. She was then suddenly attacked with a knife by a man named Winston Moseley, if you ask me it does sound like a murderer’s name. She screamed aloud “Oh my God, I 've been stabbed! Please help me!” We know
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While bystander effect can have a bad impact on people, researchers have released a statement of different things that may possibly help people overcome their tendency and increase the likelihood that they will engage in helping behaviors. Sometimes just seeing other people doing something kind or helpful makes us more willing to help others. Imagine that you are walking into a large department store. At the entrance is a bell ringer asking for donations to a charitable organization. Notice how many of the people who walked by are stopping what they are doing to drop their change into the donation bucket. When you see other people, donate you feel obligated to stop and donate your own money. Many researchers found out that guilty feelings often spur on helping behaviors. Commonly called, survivor guilt, is an example. (“How to Overcome the Bystander