In Fall 2024, students from Jessica Ayers’ PSYC 431 Social Psychology class created biographies on “everyday upstanders,” people who take action for good in challenging situations, or the opposite of bystanders. The biographies highlighting upstanders were based on interviews students conducted that focused on the reasons for upstanding behavior.
Upstanders who caught students’ attention include their friends and family, servicemembers, social workers, librarians, healthcare workers, nonprofit volunteers, religious leaders and many others. In their work, students highlighted traits such as compassion, optimism, selflessness, honesty and leadership.
“The goal of this service-learning project is to help students apply concepts from social psychology to real-world situations to understand why people think and behave in the ways that they do,” Ayers said. “Specifically, we focus on upstanders as a way of highlighting human tendencies toward prosocial behavior, while contrasting it with the more commonly discussed topic of bystanders, by highlighting people in our communities who are upstanders but not often recognized for what they do.”
Students’ projects are currently on display at the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights at 777 S 8th St near the downtown Boise library.