What It Takes
Piliavin, et. al. introduced a concept known as diffusion of responsibility (DOR), where the idea is that people are less likely to help someone if
there are others present, because they perceive responsibility as being
shared between all present, and therefore see themselves as being less
personally responsible. This is also known as ‘bystander apathy’.
Recently, I’ve been encountering this concept to the point of discomfort and inconvenience. To put it simply, I’ve only begun to realize how lack of cohesion in a group tends to increase the probability of DOR happening; somehow more people became more dependent on other people’s efforts. There are a select few who manage to break the mold but the majority remains to be just observers from afar. It’s sad to think that a handful of you work your asses off just so you could carry the lot to the safety zone while the rest just sit there and wait for you to finish your task - as if you were their personal servant. In the end, no one even appreciates what you’ve done for them; they’re simply satisfied knowing they got through the ordeal without even lifting a finger.
I wish people played more active roles instead of merely having a reactive stance (i.e. next-door neighbor’s house caught on fire and you just say "kawawa naman" instead of dialling the fire department’s number and doing what you can to help.) Stephen Covey taught me a lot (well, no, not personally; just his books on the 7 habits) on how it is better to work your way through a problem than just commenting on what’s happening from a safe distance and letting other people deal with it. In the years before my medical education I kept instilling these values into my subordinates, always with conviction, sometimes with gentle prodding, and never with tyranny. Now that I’m back to being a student, I honestly find it hard to gather people and motivate them to do what needs to be done. Leadership in a community that sees itself as communistic would prove to be difficult if the mindset is all about an impaired sense of equality. If you stand out too much or too long you get sacked. It takes a great deal of courage to stay true to yourself amidst an apathetic crowd.
I hope the Lord gives me (and anyone who has ever tried leading by example) enough grace to preserve my integrity as a person with values and virtues, that I may never abandon the moral principles I have embraced throughout my existence, and that I may be strong enough to actually pass them on to people in my everyday life.
