Social Psychology ranked high on the top ten list of most interesting psych classes I took for my major, though some of the things I learned were truly disturbing and shameful. One that still stands out vividly in my mind to this day was that of the bystander effect/apathy (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect for a more detailed explanation). It made me wonder if I were hypothetically in such an emergency scenario, if I would succumb to the same social conditioning cues. I don't think I would. Why? The opposite of bystander effect: empathy-altruism.
Perhaps it has less to do with social conditioning and more to do with whether one has empathy and altruistic values. Those that have empathy are more likely to get involved and jump right in when there is an emergency, regardless of what's in it for them or how many people are around. You get involved because 1. it's the right thing to do and 2. to do so is to have compassion for another human being.
I heard about an alarming and tragic accident on the news last week, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it. I just remembered it was something that bothered me and almost made me question whether human beings are inherently good when put to the test.
A 78 year old Hartford, Connecticut man was hit by a car as he was crossing the street. His body flew through the air and landed off to the side of the road. Severely injured and bleeding (profusely I would imagine), not only did the person who hit him speed off without a conscience, several bystanders did NOTHING for minutes on end. The lack of intervention disgusts me. I am reminded why I choose not to watch the news very often; I know I would be more cynical than I already feel about people just watching the occasional news story.
I do realize there are good people who do good things all the time, and yet it's not "sensational" enough to make the news. But that's a whole other subject of discussion!
Psychologically speaking, this tragic incident reinforces the bystander apathy theory. People are reluctant to get involved or take on any kind of social responsibility. This doesn't sit well with me, at all. I love psychology, don't get me wrong, but in some instances, it goes beyond psychology.
My spiritual and philosophical side isn't satisfied with that theory to explain the prevalence of apathy in so many societal scenarios. It goes deeper than the mind (psychology). It's about the heart, that of compassion and a sense of humanity. Where is it? Do we as a society pick and choose what is easiest or the most self-beneficial to be compassionate about, as if we're at the grocery store trying to choose between limes and lemons? As if it's all about oneself, not that of interconnectedness. I cannot fathom this; I am not selective with my compassion. My cup runneth over, as the saying goes.
What was going on with the bystanders as they walked by the bleeding man? Was it "Oh, he'll be ok....he doesn't look that bad..." or "I need to get to class/work/somewhere and don't have time!"?
Did any of them feel horrible later, in retrospect, for not choosing to be the one to step up to the plate and be a compassionate citizen? I wasn't there, so I couldn't tell ya. Hopefully I'll never have to answer such questions from an experiential standpoint.
On a more positive note, I'll tell you something slightly of the same variety with a different ending, one of empathy.
I can't remember when this happened, sometime in the past six months I think. My mom told me she was driving and saw an elderly woman fall nearby in the road.
She helped her.
Right away and with no hesitation.
2 comments:
Could this be due to conditioning? We move to big cities because that is where all the action is. But we run around in a little bubble. We don’t look the person passing us in the eye, listen to an ipod in the train cuz people are annoying, don’t even know or talk to the people who live next to us most of the time.
We are all interdependent on one another. Think of how many hands from across the globe have touched the shirt you’re wearing or the rice you might be eating today. We are one big community and are not really separated by state, country, or continent anymore.
But when we live like I do in my own little world, not knowing the people around you, not associating with my community, then this interdependence becomes an abstract idea. The idea of community becomes abstract as well. And abstract idea become imaginary after awhile. We don’t realize we are interconnected anymore. Its not entirely that we are selfish, its just that we don’t think things outside our little life are real. Just a thought.
On the other hand some of these people who witnessed it might have been employees of mine. And they know damn well the will get fired if they don’t show up on time!!!
Wow, kickass response Sebastian! You raise some interesting and relevant points. Absolutely.
Oh, and maybe you should be a little less of a stickler on your late policies. ;)
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