Assignment: Interdisciplinary Learning Capstone

Heroes are known for their laudable achievements and praiseworthy

personal qualities. According to dictionary usage, the qualities of heroes involve (1) ‘‘great nobility of purpose’’ and ‘‘sacrifice for

others,’’ (2) ‘‘great courage or strength’’ and being ‘‘celebrated for bold exploits,’’ or (3) unusual ‘‘special achievements’’ in a field (e.g.,

heroes of sports or science) (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). People with such qualities contribute disproportionately to groups,

perhaps increasing the chances of a group’s survival and prosperity. It is worth noting that these qualities are not invariably associated with morality. They vary from those that have clear moral relevance

(nobility, self-sacrifice) to those that do not (courage, strength, spe- cial achievements), even though the latter may have implications for

morality under some conditions (e.g., acting on moral convictions requires courage in the face of adversity).

A Harris Poll (2001) showed that people cite many reasons for naming someone as a hero. The reasons named by three-fourths or

more of respondents involved ‘‘not giving up until the goal is ac- complished’’ (86%), ‘‘doing what’s right regardless of personal con-

sequences’’ (85%), ‘‘doing more than what other people expect of them’’ (81%), ‘‘staying level-headed in a crisis’’ (79%), ‘‘overcoming adversity’’ (79%), and ‘‘changing society for the better’’ (77%).

Other frequently listed reasons included the ‘‘willingness to risk per- sonal safety to help others’’ (72%) and ‘‘not expecting personal rec-

ognition’’ (68%). These popular reasons again range from those that are highly moral (e.g., doing what’s right, willingness to sacrifice for

others) to those that are morally neutral (e.g., perseverance, staying level-headed).

What Makes a Hero? 327

The Role of Integrity in Selecting Heroes

Although there have been numerous surveys describing whom peo-

ple list as their heroes and the qualities they admire in them, there has been little research on individual differences in the selection of

heroes. Why do different people identify with different heroes? We propose that people’s integrity is a key predictor of the qualities they

prefer in their heroes. A principled ideology consists of important moral schemas about

oneself and the world. Important schemas are more likely to be

accessible in memory, to guide social judgment, and to lead to consistent behavior, and this is especially the case when important

self-schemas are involved (Brown, 1998; Markus & Wurf, 1987; Moskowitz, 2005). When evaluating others, people tend to use con-

structs that are contained in their own self-schemas, both as social judgment standards and to organize information about others (Dun-

ning, Krueger, & Alicke, 2005; Moskowitz, 2005). People also are at- tracted to others who have personal qualities that are similar to those they themselves possess (LaPrelle, Hoyle, Insko, & Bernthal, 1990).