Just as the fight or flight response is a decision that needs to be made, morality helps which tactic is chosen, and is a decision in itself. People are taught from day one what is right and what is wrong, and the biggest contributor to this are parents. Their primary job is to give you the ability to get through life successfully while making the right decisions. If one does not have someone in his or her life in order to mentor him or her in this way, unfortunately he or she will be more than likely fail. Just as parents are an influential source, another would be school; the people - peers, students, teachers, and staff - teach you how to properly treat others as well as how to respect people that are in a position of authority. Plus these mentors have the capability to teach people not to cheat; this may seem to be less important, but in return, it will supply the morals that are needed in order to follow instincts and decide whether to fight or flee.
Surroundings can play a big role on how you react using the fight or flight response. The people around someone may affect his or her judgement on whether or not he or she wants to fight or run. People are a strong influential factor; sometimes it is hard to be one's true self, because he or she is too influenced by the ways of other people. This plays along tremendously when it comes to the media; often people base their judgments, assumptions, and opinions off of what is being given from the media or surrounding peers and peoples. For example, if surrounded by a bunch of gangsters and thugs, one would most likely fight for his or her life. But if someone surrounded by pacifists, or optimists, the chance of him or her fighting is slim to none in comparison to the other example. If there is a conflict with a fellow peer, it is easy to get aggravated and want to hurt this peer; physically or emotionally, when there is an antagonist trying to provoke you to do so, "Most of the receptors they found were cued to respond to scents from other species, especially those from potential predators" (Jennifer Welsh).