Bystander Intervention Theory

Throughout life we will find ourselves in situations where another person, possibly a stranger, needs our help. Question number 3 addresses the topic of the bystander effect. Diffusion of responsibility is essentially not feeling an urgent need to step in and help. Because you are assuming that others who are witnessing the circumstances will be the ones to jump in and help (Gilovich et al., 2013). The bystander intervention theory explains that people are less likely to help out in a situation, because they just assume that someone else will do it (Gilovich et al., 2013)). I believe that one of the obstacles that prevent people from helping is that they simply feel underqualified. Perhaps they lack the confidence to help, or they feel …show more content…
Our attitude can align with our behaviors, however many times our attitude may be one thing and our behavior another. A person may say that they believe one thing, yet when it comes down to it their behavior may reflect that they either have a different belief or that acting out their attitude is merely not acceptable behavior (Gilovich et al., 2013). Attitudes can be a successful predictor of behavior (Gilovich et al., 2013). For example I have a good attitude about exercise, therefore it is something I incorporate into my life and make a priority. So my attitude does influence my behavior in a positive way. However I also have good attitudes about volunteering more, spending more time reading my bible and reaching out to people. More times than not my behavior falls short of my attitude. That being said, it appears that attitudes more often than not represent good intentions. Often times a person believes something and furthermore, they believe that they will follow through. Due to either time restrictions or just a lack of ability to follow through, many attitudes do not actually come to fruition through behavior. Perhaps thinking about an attitude can change it because you put forth some effort to analyze and understand why you may have that attitude. Awareness can be the catalyst for …show more content…
I often feel like Paul when he wrote in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do”. I feel that I wake with the best intentions every day to do well, and please God. Yet, it doesn’t take long before I catch myself thinking or doing something that conflict with my intentions. In particular there is a relationship that conflicts with my beliefs. I spent a number of years justifying why I needed this friendship. Essentially, I was attempting to reduce my dissonance. I was lonely, no one appreciated me, and I convinced myself that this person did appreciate me. After a few years my eyes began to open about this individual, God removed the blinders from eyes and I really began to see who they were. The relationship with this person does not bring anything good into my world, and mostly I feel uncomfortable about it. Yet although I have tried to distance myself from this unhealthy person, I usually find myself being pulled back in. This in turn makes me feel bad about myself. There is an internal battle that I am fighting every day and I do find myself finding ways to justify, or explain why I can’t completely cut this person out of my life. Therefore attempting to create a way to rationalize the way I feel, and to ultimately feel better about myself. I am attempting to reduce dissonance by reducing my contact with this individual. I have realized