Bystander Psychology

During this psychology course we discussed many psychological concepts and terms. Many of the psychological concepts can be linked together, I have chosen five specific concepts that I will be defining and giving a personal example or scenario that I have personally experienced for each term. The first psychological concept I will be explaining is the bystander effect. The bystander effect is when individuals are less likely to help in times of need or in situations when other people are around. I have witnessed this in many situations, one specific situation was when I was in middle school my family and I lived outside of Eagle Point Oregon right in the outskirts between Eagle Point and Shady Cove. My family lived in a mobile home right behind …show more content…
I looked up and witnessed a horrible car accident. During this time my parents were not home and there wasn’t anyone outside or around at all. I felt like I was the only one who saw this tragedy take place. I called the police and ran out to the road. During this time I was the only one at the scene and all of the vehicles just raced by without stopping, I believe these people didn't stop because they saw me and one other lady that later stopped. This I believe was a prime example of the bystander effect taking place. The people didn't feel the need to help in this situation because they saw that two people were already on the screen. The second concept I will be discussing is similar to the first, of which is diffusion of responsibility. This is where individuals feel like they don't need to be responsible for helping in a situation or that they don’t need to be responsible in general for what is going on or whatever the outcome would be, individuals feel that they don't need to take responsibility because someone else will or that someone else can take the …show more content…
Distress is the bad stress hints the name, this is caused from too much stress at once and stress building up. It causes negative effects on the body, distress is usually more long term and effects a person negatively throughout one's day and may even interfere with everyday tasks or duties. Distress is known to cause or worsen other conditions for example anxiety. I personally am a high stress person and really have always been, I am pretty good at keeping it under control therefore I experience eustress and distress one or the other on a daily basis. Eustress I experience on a daily basis with school, my job and my apartment. Short term stress comes with college because you want to get everything done and done correctly in a timely manner. This stress encourages me to get my assignments and job tasks done. Distress happens when I let stress buildup and I don't deal with my stressors right away, it turns into a longer more serious issue which is very harmful in many aspects. I have gotten better about using techniques to help relieve my stressors and prevent them from becoming distress and causing harm. For example I have been practicing breathing exercises, being more aware of my feelings and thoughts in the present moment and I have been incorporating more to do lists in my everyday life to better organize my thoughts. These few changes have helped my distress