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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Distinctions Between General And Personal Courage, Cynthia L. S. Pury, Robin M. Kowalski, Jana Spearman
Distinctions Between General And Personal Courage, Cynthia L. S. Pury, Robin M. Kowalski, Jana Spearman
Cynthia L. S. Pury
How courageous is an action? Perhaps it depends on the comparison group, with crucial differences between general courage, or actions that would be courageous for anyone, and personal courage, or actions that are courageous only for the particular actor. To explore these possible distinctions, 250 undergraduates (151 female) wrote about a time they acted courageously, then made multiple ratings of the action including personal and general courageousness. Actions high in general courage were taken with more confidence, less fear, and fewer personal limitations: actions high in personal courage were taken with more fear, despite greater difficulty. Both ratings and narrative …
Human Strengths, Courageous Actions, And General And Personal Courage, Cynthia L. S. Pury, Robin M. Kowalski
Human Strengths, Courageous Actions, And General And Personal Courage, Cynthia L. S. Pury, Robin M. Kowalski
Cynthia L. S. Pury
College students (N = 298, 54% female) described a time when they acted courageously, then rated their courageous action on each of 24 Values in Action (VIA) strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), and on general and personal courage (Pury, Kowalski, & Spearman, 2007). Three of the four strengths of Courage -- Persistence, Integrity, and Bravery -- had mean ranks placing them in the top five strengths, along with Hope, a strength of transcendence, and Kindness, a strength of humanity. Multiple strengths were associated with higher general courage (actions that would be courageous for anyone), lower personal courage (actions that are …