{"id":425,"date":"2026-05-18T12:11:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/?p=425"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:11:34","slug":"two-sides-of-the-helping-phenomenon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/05\/18\/two-sides-of-the-helping-phenomenon\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Sides of the Helping Phenomenon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article<\/a> recounts a case of diffused responsibility resulting in the death of a man who could easily have been saved had any of numerous passersby had stopped to help. This one<\/a> tells the story of a man who lost his life while saving others. Presenting these examples in tandem is likely to stimulate discussion of the factors that influence people to help others or ignore their plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article recounts a case of diffused responsibility resulting in the death of a man who could easily have been saved had any of numerous passersby had stopped to help. This one tells the story of a man who lost … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcjttF-6R","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":146,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2020\/09\/13\/competency-to-stand-trial\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":0},"title":"Competency to Stand Trial","author":"dbernstein","date":"September 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a recent example in which the process of determining a criminal suspect's competency to stand trial took so long that the time he spent in jail awaiting trial exceeded the length of his ultimate prison sentence. It also exemplifies the fact that clinical judgments about competency and sanity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":418,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/05\/15\/cognitive-bias-about-danger\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":1},"title":"Cognitive Bias about Danger","author":"dbernstein","date":"May 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Mass Formation\" is an idea proposed by Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet. He gained worldwide recognition toward the end of 2021 when he presented the concept as an explanation for some irrational behavior with regard to the COVID pandemic and its countermeasures.\u00a0 \"In the beginning of the Corona crisis, back in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Thinking and Cognitive Abilities"","block_context":{"text":"Thinking and Cognitive Abilities","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/tca\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":441,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/441\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":2},"title":"A Case of Misdiagnosis","author":"dbernstein","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A news story found here recounts the case of a homeless man who was falsely identified as a criminal with a different name. Because he refused to admit being that man, he was committed to a mental institution where he was medicated for two years before the error was corrected.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":249,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2022\/05\/17\/the-persuasive-power-of-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":3},"title":"The persuasive power of words","author":"dbernstein","date":"May 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A short video found here illustrates the power of words to influence the behavior of others, in this case, to create empathy and generosity.","rel":"","context":"In "Social Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Social Psychology","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/social\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":312,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2023\/04\/21\/webers-law-can-cost-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":4},"title":"Weber’s Law Can Cost You!","author":"dbernstein","date":"April 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The following story provides an amusing, though costly example of the real-world importance of JNDs, in this case, for weight. During an extended stay in Italy, a man we know went to the grocery store, taking with him the shopping trolley (an opaque bag on wheels) provided in his rental\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sensation and Perception"","block_context":{"text":"Sensation and Perception","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/s-and-p\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2023\/01\/15\/everyday-examples-of-descriptive-norms-in-action\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":5},"title":"Everyday Examples of Descriptive Norms in Action","author":"dbernstein","date":"January 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Descriptive norms can be seen operating when street performers, cocktail lounge pianists, coat-check attendants, baristas, and others who work for tips \u201cseed\u201d their tip containers with bills in the amounts they hope their customers will contribute. The idea is that if a pianist\u2019s tip jar already holds a few five-dollar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Social Psychology","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/social\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":426,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}