Bystander Effect

While riding the bus the other day, the bus driver asked if everyone was getting off at the central bus station, which is the last stop on the route. A few people replied yes. This caught me by surprise. If this question was asked in America, you would get some grumbles but definitely no definitive yeses. Definite answers are a part of Israeli culture, as well as stating their opinion. You want to know how to get to Ben Yehuda Street? Five people will tell you six different ways. And that is just asking for directions.

This got me thinking. Is the bystander effect lower in Israel? The bystander effect occurs during an emergency and people choose not to intervene. Kitty Genovese opened the eyes of many psychologists after her murder in her apartment. While she was yelling for help, the other tenants assumed that somebody else was going to help and because of this nobody helped until too late. 

If people in Israel tend to express their opinions more frequently and more often to strangers than Americans then it would that they would also run to an emergency situation and see what is going on. I can tell you that when one car is pulled over on the road, there is usually another car near it and somebody talking on the phone. Sometimes there is an accident, but most of the time it is not. This rarely happens in America. If your car breaks down you have to go fend for yourself. But here, as long as you don't enrage the other person, they treat you like family. You don't have a place for Shabbat? Tell the next person on the street and they will happily invite you over. Need a ride to the next town? Hop in. Because of the group-centered culture, people are more likely to help each other.