Civil courage

Civil courage is a type of courage, related closely to heroism, in which a person acts bravely to intervene in a social situation.

Overview

Italian journalist and writer Franca Magnani (1925-1996) wrote, "Je mehr Bürger mit Zivilcourage ein Land hat, desto weniger Helden wird es einmal brauchen" ("The more citizens with civil courage which a country has, the fewer heroes it needs").[1]

Civil Courage today

Civil courage has been referred to by psychologist Tobias Greitemeyer as constituting acts of bravery, carried out with the objective of enforcing a societal or ethical standard, without concern for the effect these acts might have on one’s own position. In this way it is distinguished from altruistic behavior and other forms of courage. [2]

In the case of altruistic, helping behavior, an individual might expect to be praised or receive positive social consequences from the result of their having helped, despite possible financial or material loss. In actions where civil courage is demonstrated, the person carrying out the action may experience negative social consequences such as alienation, verbal abuse or violence. Civil courage is displayed when a person, in spite of the perceived threat of negative consequences acts to intervene in a social context. [3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Über Zivilcourage". University of Zurich (in German). Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Greitemeyer, Tobias. "Civil courage: Implicit theories, related concepts, and measurement". Tandfonline.com. The Journal of Positive Psychology. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Osswald, Silvia. "What Is Moral Courage? Definition, Explication, and Classification of a Complex Construct" (PDF). Semanticsscholar.org. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.