Standing up or Standing by

Source: Hoosiers for Life

Posted at Hoosiers for Life:

In 1964, one of the most famous murders in America took place.

Twenty-eight year old Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death while her neighbors watched through their windows and did nothing. At one point, she managed to make it to the bottom of a stairwell, and her neighbor saw her and turned away.

In psychological terms, her neighbors were affected by what is known as the bystander effect. When a group of people witnesses an event, they feel as though their moral obligation to act is diminished by the presence of other witnesses.

Why should you act when all these other people are merely standing by? Nobody wants to be the odd one out and go against the crowd, and the larger the crowd, the larger the effect.

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