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Emergency Circumstances: What Does Bystander Meaning

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As children, we are taught that it is important for our safety to remain in a group when going out somewhere. It is imbedded in our brains that there is a level of safety in groups that will keep us out of harm’s way. This common belief, however may not be completely accurate. The bystander effect is one phenomenon that sends doubt towards this concept of there being safety in numbers. Extensive research has been done to prove that in several emergency situations the bystander effect has been present. This research provides a real explanation on why so many emergency situations are not properly addressed by the witnesses. The bystander effect is the tendency of people to have little or no reaction in an emergency due to: disbelief of the …show more content…

In the research article, Masculinity and Bystander Helping, evidence was found that the fear of embarrassment inhibits bystanders from helping a victim (Tice & Baumeister, 1985). This academic article also suggests that a masculine person may feel that helping a person in an emergency somehow reflects poorly on their level of masculinity (Trice & Baumeister, 1985). There may be many other factors to why these personnel refuse to help. However, it seems that appearing foolish is more important to these people than the emergency at …show more content…

Meaning, the witnesses to the crime may believe that the emergency is staged to some degree. Bystanders in Dangerous Emergencies, explains the research they have discovered relating to bystander doubt in a situation. The text refers to their study on the effect of different levels of emergency. The study shows that in levels of low emergency the bystander effect is far more effective than in high emergency situations. (Fischer, Greitemeyer, Pollozek, & Frey, 2006) This study also implies that this is because, in a high dangerous situation it is far clearer that it is, in fact, a true emergency. The witnesses are far more willing to help knowing that they are recusing someone from real danger. (Fischer, Greitemeyer, Pollozek, & Frey, 2006) Whatever the causation may be, the bystander effect directly targets the myth of their being safety in numbers. The bystander effect inhibits the surrounding people from helping in a situation making a person just as in danger as if alone. With knowledge of the bystander effect, maybe the witnesses would recognize that it is always better to offer assistance in a situation. It’s always a good rule of thumb to be safer rather than sorry. Bystanders should help regardless of the level of emergency, their personal esteem, or even the chance of it not being a true

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