And now those who defend our nation. Webster's defines a hero as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent, endowed with great strength or ability. That's what kids tend to think. Sarah Perry says, "A hero is a person who saves the day. He's the one who has all the courage and he has responsibility. Someone like Cory Jarvis who never thought twice about running up to this semi that was about to explode.
He then helped Cody Murphy free his father Ralph. Would you have done the same thing? What makes someone rush up to this burning wreckage to help someone they don't even know? Carden said. It's true of Jarvis who received second degree burns for his heroic actions.
Not everyone would do the same. Some simply stand by and watch while others rush in. Psychologists call it the bystander affect. Some say it's Jarvis' actions that are heroic, but Cory didn't have to do it, or maybe he did. We all have the ability to be heroic. Psychologists say it can be taught, it's starts with helping out your fellow man. Just like Cory Jarvis did on this Camilla Highway.
For any hero, it's enough just knowing they helped someone else. That's what makes them a true hero. Whether it's saving someone from a burning vehicle or after they fall on to train tracks, thousands of people risk their lives helping others each year. Berkeley Johnson helped rescue a two-year-old from under several feet of debris following the California mudslides and was labelled a hero.
Berkeley decided to leave the relative safety of his roof to wade through deep mud, passing "boulders the size of vans", in search of help. If he hadn't, the toddler may never have been found. And it's that sort of risk-taking that's an important trait, according to Dr Punit Shah, from the University of Bath's Department of Psychology. Other traits may include "people that value other humans, that have good moral values - and also people that value social status".
Dr Shah says acts of heroism have almost become part of being a human as we've evolved. But somewhere we sort of evolved to engage in that way of thinking.
Acts of heroism rely on situational factors as well as personality traits, according to Dr Shah. How do psychologists and other heroism researchers define heroism? Here are just a few of the many suggestions put forth by various experts:.
After polling a number of people, we discovered that heroes are perceived to be highly moral , highly competent , or both. More specifically, heroes are believed to possess eight traits, which we call The Great Eight. These traits are smart, strong, resilient, selfless, caring, charismatic, reliable, and inspiring. Allison and George R. Heroes are conceptualized diversely, and no rigid boundaries exist in this social category. The most prototypical features of heroes, identified in our research, are bravery, moral integrity, courageous, protecting, conviction, honest, altruistic, self-sacrificing, selfless, determined, saves, inspiring, and helpful.
Kinsella, Timothy D. Ritchie, and Eric R. Other definitions often break heroism down by types or degrees of the personal risk and sacrifice involved.
Some involve grand acts such as endangering one's life in order to save another person, while others are smaller, everyday acts designed to help another human being in need.
Psychologist Frank Farley makes a distinction between what he calls "big H" heroism and "small h heroism. Small h heroism, on the other hand, involves things many of us do every day; helping someone out, being kind, and standing up for justice.
These things don't typically involve personal risk on our part. So now that we know a bit more about what heroism is, the question shifts to exactly why people become heroes? Are there any characteristics of heroism that these individuals seem to share?
Farley suggests that there are two key factors underlying the grand acts of heroism that involve a risk of personal harm: risk-taking behavior and generosity. People who risk their lives in the service of another are naturally more likely to take greater risks and they also possess a great deal of compassion, kindness, empathy, and altruism.
Researchers have long known that both people and animals are more likely to help those to whom they are genetically related, a concept known as kin selection, according to a study published in In other cases, we help others with the expectation that someday they might help us in return, an idea known as reciprocal altruism. But what about the kinds of altruism that don't hinge on helping relatives or expecting some type of payback?
In such cases, situational, cultural, and personality variables can play pivotal roles. After people take heroic actions, they often claim that they don't see themselves as heroes, that they were simply doing what anyone in that situation would have done.
In the face of immediate life and death situations, the power and immediacy of the situation can inspire some people to take action. These same situational forces that galvanize some individuals to heroic acts can actually impede others from helping. When a crisis arises in the presence of many people, we often fall into a trap of inaction by assuming that someone else will offer assistance, a phenomenon known as the bystander effect.
Because personal responsibility is diffused by the presence of others, we believe that someone else will take on the role of the hero. Some people may also have personality traits that predispose them to behave in altruistic and heroic ways. According to a study published in , researchers have suggested that those who have a particular mindset that leads them to behave confidently and morally in difficult situations tend to act immediately and unconsciously when an emergency occurs.
One of the biggest questions researchers face comes down to the age-old debate over nature versus nurture. Is heroism something we are born with, or is heroism something that can be learned? It depends on which expert you ask, but here's an opinion worth pondering:.
So each of us may possess the capacity to do terrible things. But we also possess an inner hero; if stirred to action, that inner hero is capable of performing tremendous goodness for others. Ever wonder what your personality type means?
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