Something just happened to me that made me think of this and I thought I would share it for discussion but also to try and influence your future actions.
I was waiting for my train at Boston's South Station, sat at a few tables near the restaurants. There are about 10 small tables there, and at the time there were probably about 15 people sat at them. Other people were walking by as one does in a train station.
Anyway, an older woman (likely in her 40s) on the table two away from my own started choking on her meal. She was hunched over, coughing loudly and repeatedly. I heard her and looked over; it was obvious to me that she was in trouble, and I grabbed a bottle of water I had and rushed over, offering it to her. She grabbed it and drank, but her coughing continued, so she motioned for me to hit her back, which I proceeded to do. Eventually whatever was stuck dislodged and she was fine. She thanked me and after refusing my offer of trying to find more help, I went to sit back down.
This is where the title of my thread comes in. At no point in the above series of events, which lasted a couple of minutes, did any other person come to her aid, or try to help me. This is a known social psychological phenomenon called the Bystander Effect. Put simply, even when there is someone in clear danger nearby, people are less likely to come to their aid if there are other people around.
There are many reasons why this happens, though Diffusion of Responsibility is a common one. It is essentially a mindset of "another person is bound to take responsibility, so I don't have to / would just get in the way". The problem is, when everyone is thinking this way, people get hurt, because nobody will help (or someone may decide to help too late).
This is likely what happened to the people around me. Some of them probably noticed the woman choking (there were people closer to her than I was) but their thinking prevented them from helping because they assumed that someone else would take responsibility. On a different occasion, I might have thought the same way.
So please take some time to educate yourself about the Bystander Effect, and try to remember it the next time you see someone in trouble in a crowded environment. Don't assume that someone will help, and even if someone gets there before you, ask them if they need any assistance. You may just help save someone's life.
I was waiting for my train at Boston's South Station, sat at a few tables near the restaurants. There are about 10 small tables there, and at the time there were probably about 15 people sat at them. Other people were walking by as one does in a train station.
Anyway, an older woman (likely in her 40s) on the table two away from my own started choking on her meal. She was hunched over, coughing loudly and repeatedly. I heard her and looked over; it was obvious to me that she was in trouble, and I grabbed a bottle of water I had and rushed over, offering it to her. She grabbed it and drank, but her coughing continued, so she motioned for me to hit her back, which I proceeded to do. Eventually whatever was stuck dislodged and she was fine. She thanked me and after refusing my offer of trying to find more help, I went to sit back down.
This is where the title of my thread comes in. At no point in the above series of events, which lasted a couple of minutes, did any other person come to her aid, or try to help me. This is a known social psychological phenomenon called the Bystander Effect. Put simply, even when there is someone in clear danger nearby, people are less likely to come to their aid if there are other people around.
There are many reasons why this happens, though Diffusion of Responsibility is a common one. It is essentially a mindset of "another person is bound to take responsibility, so I don't have to / would just get in the way". The problem is, when everyone is thinking this way, people get hurt, because nobody will help (or someone may decide to help too late).
This is likely what happened to the people around me. Some of them probably noticed the woman choking (there were people closer to her than I was) but their thinking prevented them from helping because they assumed that someone else would take responsibility. On a different occasion, I might have thought the same way.
So please take some time to educate yourself about the Bystander Effect, and try to remember it the next time you see someone in trouble in a crowded environment. Don't assume that someone will help, and even if someone gets there before you, ask them if they need any assistance. You may just help save someone's life.
