Psychology

Society has often brought on major influences on people that comprise it.  An individual s actions are sometimes instigated by what society dictates so does an individual s inaction. The Bystander effect is one example of the ability of society to affect a person s willingness to act in the presence of an emergency situation. The Bystander effect is a phenomenon wherein the presence of a greater number of people as onlookers lessens the likelihood of a person who is in distress to receive help from them. Moreover, with fewer people present, a person in distress is more likely to get help. The Bystander effect is also called the Genovese Syndrome (Mcshane, 2007) which is attributed to the murder of Kitty Genovese outside her Queens apartment. She allegedly called for help and was heard by 38 witnesses however, none of them came to her aid. One of the witnesses was said to have called the police 30 minutes after the assault, at which at that time, Kitty Genovese was already dead. This incident raised an alarm in the United States as to the inability of people in the society to help other people in emergency situations. Studies have tried to come up with explanations regarding this inaction and some have come up with the main reason of diffusion of responsibility. A person may fail to engage in prosocial behavior in the presence of other people due to the belief that someone among the other onlookers will help the distressed individual. People also fail to act if among the onlookers, there is no immediate reaction, which gives them the idea that a situation may not be a possible emergency. Others are afraid to help since they are afraid to get caught up in the situation. Prosocial behavior is defined as the actions done for the greater good or benefit of an individual or a group of individuals. In other words, it could also mean the deeds done in order to help other people.

Mammals are said
to have innate qualities of helping each other however, human actions at some point, are affected by their environment and thus, the people around them.

Participants
In this study, 12 people were interviewed. The subjects were a 25-year old female, a 27-year old male, a 34-year old female, a 31-year old male, a 47-year old female, a 43-year old male, a 54-year-old female, a 56-year old male, a 62-year old female, a 66-year old male, a 71-year old female and a 72-year old male.

Methodology
The interview is set to understand what worries people and how they cope with those worries. Two people from each age range of 20   30, 30   40, 40   50, 50   60, 60   70, and 70 years old and above were interviewed. Of the two people from each age range, one was female, the other male. The participants were interviewed on a one on one basis with the interviewer taking careful notes and accounts of the interview. The participants were also selected randomly with no other qualifications except age and gender.

Results
On an average, the subjects  worries composed of 5 things. The most frequent things that worry the subjects are pain due to injections, with the most unusual worry being failure. The subjects state that the most frequent coping mechanism they do include staying away from the sources of their worries. The most unusual coping mechanism includes immersing themselves with their worries. The number of worries seems to be greater with the younger ranges (20   30, 30   40 and 40   50 years old) with a slight difference with the older age ranges in the types of worries. The younger age ranges seem to be worried more about pain and crawling insects while the older age ranges worry most about their health and dying. Coping methods also differ among the age ranges in that the younger age ranges are more engaged with their worries than doing something about it.  Gender differences on the other hand affect the types of worries slightly. Men are more afraid of injections while women are more afraid of pain not necessarily induced by injections. As for coping methods, male and female of some age ranges share the methods (20   30) while the others differ.

Conclusion
In conclusion, age differences affect the types of worries and coping methods more than gender differences. The younger participants seem to be more attached to their fears so that they stay away from activities that could bring about these worries. The older generation (60 years old and above) seems to think that they are helpless with their situation especially those who worry most about their health but they say they do the best they can to maintain a good health and thus, lessen their worries. In connection to the Bystander effect, younger people should be able to help more than older people. However, depending on the abilities of older people, they can also help in emergency situations though physically, some of them won t be able to. Also, due to inexperience, younger people sometimes fail to help due to fear of getting involved. In relation to gender, men should also be able to help actively compared to women since men s physique allows them to be stronger than women therefore, they should engage more in helping people in distress. This happens most of the time though, men helping women.

The Kitty Genovese incident has raised awareness in society so that more and more people are becoming proactive hence, engaging in prosocial behavior. However, older people or people with experience tend to understand the situation of a person in distress more than younger people so, at young ages, children should be educated regarding prosocial behavior in order that when
they grow up, they will be able to understand people who are in distress so that when they witness one, they will be able to help, either actively or passively.