Social Representations of Hero and Everyday Hero: A Network Study from Representative Samples

Zsolt Keczer,Philip G. Zimbardo,Gábor Orosz,Bálint File,Attila Gursoy

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159354

Abstract

The psychological investigation of heroism is relatively new. At this stage, inductive methods can shed light on its main aspects. Therefore, we examined the social representations of Hero and Everyday Hero by collecting word associations from two separate representative samples in Hungary. We constructed two networks from these word associations. The results show that the social representation of Hero is more centralized and it cannot be divided into smaller units. The network of Everyday Hero is divided into five units and the significance moves from abstract hero characteristics to concrete social roles and occupations exhibiting pro-social values. We also created networks from the common associations of Hero and Everyday Hero. The structures of these networks show a moderate similarity and the connections are more balanced in case of Everyday Hero. While heroism in general can be the source of inspiration, the promotion of everyday heroism can be more successful in encouraging ordinary people to recognize their own potential for heroic behavior.

Highlights

Social psychology has relatively few empirical studies on heroism [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The present study maps the social representations of Hero and Everyday Hero in Hungary by representing them as networks constructed from free associations
We explored the social representations of Hero and Everyday Hero in Hungary

Summary

Introduction

Social psychology has relatively few empirical studies on heroism [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. To broaden previous analyses on heroism, we apply network theory. This approach is capable of finding patterns in the connections among elements in social representations. The present study maps the social representations of Hero and Everyday Hero in Hungary by representing them as networks constructed from free associations. We identify modules of the networks and categorize the associations based on their topological positions in the association networks. In order to do that, we define global hubs as the most dominant associations of the whole social representation and modular hubs as the characteristic associations in the PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0159354. In order to do that, we define global hubs as the most dominant associations of the whole social representation and modular hubs as the characteristic associations in the PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0159354 August 15, 2016

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Conclusion