旁觀者效應：我可能不會救你

What would you do if you saw someone getting attacked or injured in a car accident? Most people believe they would jump to the rescue or call for help. In many cases, however, your decision depends on how many people are nearby. This is due to the bystander effect, which is when a group of people sees someone being hurt but doesn’t do anything to stop it. The more people there are in the crowd, the more likely it is that they will ignore the crime or the accident. Scientists think this is because we expect others to offer help first.

如果你看見有人被襲擊，或是在車禍中受傷了，你會怎麼做呢？多數人相信自己會立刻上前解救或尋求幫助。然而在許多時候，你的決定取決於你周遭人數的多寡。這種現象發生的原因即是旁觀者效應，也就是當一群人看見有人被傷害時，卻沒有人挺身而出阻止事情發生。群眾人數越多，眾人無視這場犯罪活動或意外的可能性就越高。科學家認為這種現象是因為我們期望他人率先提供援助。

生活必備字詞

jump to the / sb’s rescue
迅速前來救援，趕來解救某人
If May ever sees someone in need of help, she would jump to their
rescue without a second thought.
decision n.決定，抉擇
ignore vt.無視，置之不理
Leon tried to ignore the dog’s loud barks coming from outside, but
he couldn’t.