ABSTRACT
The hero story represents a compelling genre of literature-the hero journey draws readers in with tales of struggle, persistence, triumph, and perhaps transformation. The hero is celebrated, though, not for the journey but for his or her admirable qualities. The heroic figures of myth represent the quintessential hero through the qualities they embody: bravery, competence, persistence, and loyalty among others. The literature on heroism reflects this focus on heroic traits, as much of what is known focuses on the personality characteristics, types, motivations, and perceptions of heroes (e.g., Allison & Goethals, 2011; Blau & Zimbardo, 2011; Kinsella, Ritchie, & Igou, 2015a;Walker, Frimer, & Dunlop, 2010; Zimbardo, 2007). The value of the hero story beyond its dramatic impact is much less emphasized in the investigation of heroes from a psychological standpoint. The effect of heroic action on development of the self and other advances the psychology of heroism through bringing attention to the potential positive effects of heroic stories in people’s lives. This chapter focuses on the positive impact of heroic action for two integral aspects of the hero story: the hero, and the audience. Moral stories of heroism provide an opportunity to examine how moral heroic action might
be integrated into the hero’s own life. From a narrative psychology perspective, stories represent who we are-we understand our experiences and ourselves by creating a cohesive story complete with themes, characters, peaks, and valleys (McAdams, 2001). Narrative analysis reveals aspects central to one’s identity, and can even demonstrate how one attributes a change in the self to a specific event (Pals, 2006). Narrative studies of moral exemplars have shed light on the personality aspects of heroes (e.g., Walker et al., 2010) but have yet to examine the impact of heroism through narratives. Narratives of moral action provide a glimpse into how one understands one’s own heroism in the larger context of one’s life. Further, narratives of remembered heroism show how one understands such a story as impacting the self. It is through these stories that we may examine how one internalizes heroism, both one’s own heroic action and the action of another. Therefore, this chapter asks: How does heroism positively affect the hero through its integration into their self-story? And how do stories of others’ heroism positively affect the ordinary people who witness or learn second-hand about heroism and preserve the stories in their memory? The impact of heroism on witnesses has not gone unnoticed. Allison and Goethals (2011)
argue that heroes shape us by providing examples for how to be and behave, “they point the way toward doing the right things and doing them well” (p. 207). This aligns with the finding that
lay people draw on heroes as moral models in a time of threat (Kinsella, Ritchie, & Igou, 2015b). It is agreed that heroes exemplify desirable behaviors, but exactly how this impacts others may be explained in part by the emotions they stir, which however has not been empirically examined. Discrete emotions provide an opportunity for understanding reactions to heroism as they are often triggered by social encounters (see Parkinson, 1996) and represent normative responses with defined triggers, appraisals, and behavioral outcomes. Identifying the specific emotion triggered in response to heroism is important for understanding its impact on others. Moral elevation is the response to witnessing an act of moral beauty (Haidt, 2000, 2003a) and
it would be logical to think that this might be a reaction to heroism. Zimbardo (2007) put forth criteria for an action to qualify as heroic: It is voluntary, involves risk or potential sacrifice, is conducted in service to others, and without anticipated personal gain. The selflessness and benevolence of such an act is likely to elicit an emotion for which the trigger is moral goodness-elevation. We examine elevation as a response to heroism, in order to understand how heroism might incite change in those who learn of the hero’s acts. Remembered stories of moral heroism can shed light on both the connection between heroism and elevation, as well as the potential transformative effect of heroism. Currently, there is still debate over how to define “hero” (Allison & Goethals, 2011; Franco
et al., 2011; Kinsella et al., 2015a). However, the growing scholarship in heroism has helped to clarify the defining features of heroes. In one prototype study, heroes were identifiable by certain features such as bravery, sacrifice, moral integrity, and risk-taking (Kinsella et al., 2015a). Zimbardo (2007) also emphasized risk and sacrifice as necessary elements for heroic action. Franco and colleagues (2011) argue that although heroes and altruists are similar in behaving prosocially, risk and self-sacrifice are the very factors that distinguish the two. Most heroes align with Colby and Damon’s (1992) criteria for being a moral exemplar, and contributions to the heroism literature have been made from moral exemplar studies (e.g., Walker & Frimer, 2007; Walker et al., 2010). In accordance with these conceptions of heroism, we define heroism as exemplary moral action that involves clear physical risk and sacrifice. In doing so we aim to shed light on the impact of moral stories that clearly qualify as heroic. This chapter illuminates the impact of heroism on the self and others through examining two
types of hero stories. The first is the hero’s narrative of their own “hero chapter” in later life, and the second is an observer’s narrative of a time when they witnessed moral beauty. We use a positive psychology perspective in our in-depth analysis of heroic moral exemplar narratives and through proposing the positive emotion elevation as a specific response to heroism. The first section of this chapter draws on personal narratives of moral heroes in later life to examine how they understand their own heroism and its personal impact. The second section presents moral elevation as a response to heroism and uses narratives of elevation to understand the impact of heroism on the observer. In both sections, we propose that the impact of heroic moral action at its best involves self-transformation. Specifically, the hero chapter is articulated with a theme of self-change, and narratives of elevation reveal that some acts of moral beauty change those who witness such heroism. Finally, we discuss implications and directions for future research.
