Although the positive traits and qualities that compose heroism such as courage, bravery and empathy have received research support, little experimental research has directly investigated the perception of heroic acts. The primary purpose of the current research was to address this gap in the literature by investigating a basic question about a central defining feature of heroism, namely the risk of potential harm. A related objective was investigating how implicit theories of personality and moral character influence perceptions of heroism, particularly as it relates to risk of harm. Results revealed how incrementally escalating the level of risk to the actor can transform an otherwise prosocial behavior into heroism through separating altruism from heroism. Implicit theories impacted perceptions of heroism consistent with the theorizing behind entity/incremental orientations, and produced an interactive effect with the situational manipulation through information about the particular level of risk differentially affecting entity and incremental belief systems.
KeywordsRiskImplicit TheoriesPositive TraitsMoral Character
Becker, S. W., & Eagly, A. H. (2004). The heroism of women and men. American Psychologist, 59, 163-178. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.59.3.163
Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T., & Gosling, S. D. (2011). Amazon’s me chanical turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality data?” Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3-5. doi:10.1177/1745691610393980
Chiu, C., Dweck, C. S., Tong, J. Y., & Fu, J. H. (1997). Implicit theo ries and conceptions of morality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 923-940. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.5.923
Chiu, C., Hong, Y., & Dweck, C. S. (1997). Lay dispositionism and implicit theories of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 19-30. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.1.19
Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: A world from two perspective. Psychological Inquiry, 6, 267-285. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0604_1
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256-273. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256
Erdley, C. A., & Dweck, C. S. (1993). Children’s implicit personality theories as predictors of their social judgments. Child Development, 64, 863-878. doi:10.2307/1131223
Franco, Z. E., Blau, K., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2011). Heroism: A conceptual analysis and differentiation between heroic action and altru ism. Review of General Psychology, 15, 99-113. doi:10.1037/a0022672
Funder, D. C. (2001). Personality. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 197-221. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.197
Gaster, T. (1987). Heroes. In M. Eliade, & C. J. Adams (Ed.), The encyclopedia of religion (pp. 302-305). New York: Macmillan.
Gervey, B. M., Chiu, C., Hong, Y., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Differential use of person information in decisions about guilt versus innocence: The role of implicit theories. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 17-27. doi:10.1177/0146167299025001002
Getty Images (2012). Art inside a cave depicts the hero twins of Mayan legend. URL (last checked 9 September 2012). http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/naj-tunich-cave-guatemala-high-res-stock-photography/80249083
Hero Etymology (2012). Etymology of Hero. URL (last checked 9 September 2012) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero#Etymology
Hong, Y., Chiu, C, Dweck, C. S., Lin, D. M., & Wan W. (1999). Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: A meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 588-599. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.588
Hong, Y., Levy, S. R., & Chiu, C. (2001). The contribution of the lay theories approach to the study of groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 98-106. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0502_1
Jayawickreme, E., & Di Stefano, P. (2012). How can we study heroism? Integrating persons, situations, and communities. Political Psychology, 33, 165-178. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2011.00861.x
Levy, S. R., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Trait versus process-focused social judgment. Social Cognition, 16, 151-172. doi:10.1521/soco.1998.16.1.151
Levy, S. R., Plaks, J. E., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Modes of social thought: Person theories and social understanding. In S. Chaiken & Y. Trope (Eds.), Dual process theories in social psychology. New York: Guilford.
Levy, S. R., Plaks, J. E., Hong, Y., Chiu, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2001). Static versus dynamic theories and the perception of groups: Different routes to different destinations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 156-168. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0502_6
Levy, S. R., Stroessner, S. J., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Stereotype formation and endorsement: The role of implicit theories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1421-1436. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1421
Maloney, A. (1999). Preference ratings of images representing archetypal themes: An empirical study of the concept of archetypes. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 44, 101-116. doi:10.1111/1465-5922.00070
Mischel, W. (1990). Personality dispositions revisited and revised: A view after three decades. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 111-134). New York: Guilford.
Shoda, Y (2004). Individual differences in social psychology: Understanding situations to understand people, understanding people to understand situations. In C. Sanson, C. C. Morf, & A. T. Panter (Eds.), The sage handbook of methods in social psychology (pp. 117-141). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Staats, S., Hupp, J. M., & Hagley, A. M. (2008). Honesty and heroes: A positive psychology view of heroism and academic honesty. The Journal of Psychology, 142, 357-372. doi:10.3200/JRLP.142.4.357-372
Staats, S., Wallace, H., Anderson, T., Gresley, J., Hupp, J. M., & Weiss, E. (2009). The hero concept: Self, family, and friends who are brave, honest, and hopeful. Psychological Reports, 104, 820-832. doi:10.2466/pr0.104.3.820-832
Tong, Y., & Chiu, C. (2002). Lay theories and evaluation-based or ganization of impressions: An application of the memory search paradigm. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1518 1527. doi:10.1177/014616702237579
White, S., & O’Brien, J. (1999). What is a hero? An exploratory study of students’ conceptions of heroes. Journal of Moral Education, 28, 81-95. doi:10.1080/030572499103322