Social Psychology - Essay Example

Social Psychology This Bystander effect affects me in my daily life. I remember sitting in the outdoor area ofa cafe in Pasadena so that I could see clearly what was happening in front of me. I saw a drunken man faint and throw up on the side walk. Hundreds of passersby looked at him while some of them stopped for a minute and to have a glance. I know some of them wanted to help, especially a certain lady, but because of the presence of other people surrounding her, she decided not to. Nobody touched or even asked the drunkard how he was doing.

People just passed and decided not to help him instead. Finally, a police car came and helped the drunken guy. The second story is a personal experience of what happened to me. I was walking with my friends in Old Pasadena, when suddenly I saw a man selling roses and saying that he needs cash for college. I took cash from my wallet without anyone knowing with an intention of giving it out to the man. I was literally holding the cash in my hand and was ready to give and help the poor fellow. When I passed him, I decided not to.

It was a weird feeling because I really wanted to help him by buying his flowers, but I do not feel comfortable giving in front of my friends. After we had passed the man, I felt bad and stupid for not giving the money to him. I was very disappointed with my self. This concept actually defines me a lot, especially in my hometown, Indonesia. Back home, coming from a wealthy family means a lot. People usually look up to and compare themselves with wealthy people. They often ask themselves why some specific people are better than them.

Sometimes a lady compares herself with others whom she thinks are not as beautiful as her and feel that she is the most beautiful girl in the world. I also compare myself with people sometimes. When I see beautiful people with nice bodies, I feel embarrassed, develop low self-esteem and just feel hopeless. I am always depressed and sad about how my body looks and compare it with people who have nicer body, hair and are more beautiful. I know it is wrong, but the truth is, girls do that all the time.

It is hard to see people who are better than you and not feel low and jealous. I starved myself all the time just to lose weight and look like other beautiful girls out there, including models and my own friends. A secret that a girl will never tell is that, sometimes girls love taking pictures with people they think are fatter than them or even less beautiful than them. When the pictures are uploaded on social media, they are happy to see themselves as the most beautiful among the group so they can get the attention from the contrast it shows.

My best friend, Angel, is a good example of the social comparison concept. She has been with her boyfriend for 5 years, but has never trusted her boyfriend for these five years because she believes that other pretty girls will flirt and take him away. Consequently, she usually opens Facebook, find her boyfriend’s best friend and ask me, do you think she’s pretty? Surprisingly, she even asked me whether her thighs are big! I said no. How can she look in the mirror and think that she has big thighs when she literally looked like a walking needle?

Whenever people tell her that she does not have big thighs, she says, “No! You are lying, I have big thighs” and starts complaining for hours. Everyone says she is a psycho, but I think this is just the effect of social comparison.