According to Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (2013), prosocial behavior is defined as an act performed for the benefit of another person. Altruism is referred to as the desire to help another person even if doing so results in no benefit, or even a cost, to the helper (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2013). One particular factor, the bystander effect, has a profound impact on whether or not people help others. The bystander effect states that as the number of people witnessing an emergency increases, the likelihood that one of those people will help decreases (Aronson et al., 2013). Processes associated with the bystander effect, such as pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility, and the victim effect, all impact the likelihood of prosocial behavior and can be exaggerated by social, cultural, and personal”. Once an individual notices an event, he or she must then interpret the event as an emergency in order to help. The problem here is that pluralistic ignorance often occurs when others are present because people think that others are interpreting a situation in a particular way, when they usually do not (Aronson et al., 2013). In these situations, informational social influence occurs because individuals look to other people to queue up regarding the current situation. People usually think that others understand the situation better than they do. Yet while everyone seeks out social queues because they are worried or worried, no one acts like they are worried because they don't want to act outside of the group norm. The next step in providing assistance in an emergency is to take responsibility. . Often, it is rather a distribution of responsibilities that takes place. Unfortunately, with the people around, every ind...... middle of paper ...... RM, (2013). Social psychology (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Caprara, GV and Steca, P. (2005). Self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of prosocial behavior conducive to life satisfaction across the ages. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 24(2).191-217. doi: 10.1521/jscp.24.2.191.62271 Hui, CH (1988). Measuring individualism-collectivism. Journal of Personality Research. 22(1). 17-36. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0092656688900220 Hui, CH and Triandis, HC (1986). Individualism-collectivism: A study of cross-cultural researchers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 17(2). 225-248. Doi: 10.1177/0022002186017002006Kogut, T. and Ritov, I. (2005), The “identified victim” effect: an identified group or just a single individual?. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. 18. 157-167. do i: 10.1002/bdm.492