Russians’ ideas of heroes and heroism: Stable and changing components (based on the public opinion polls)
- Authors: Trotsuk I.V.1,2,3, Subbotina M.V.1
-
Affiliations:
- RUDN University
- Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
- National Research University Higher School of Economics
- Issue: Vol 23, No 3 (2023)
- Pages: 525-545
- Section: Contemporary society: the urgent issues and prospects for development
- URL: https://journal-vniispk.ru/2313-2272/article/view/322996
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2272-2023-23-3-525-545
- EDN: https://elibrary.ru/VGUYNS
- ID: 322996
Cite item
Abstract
Despite an extensive list of the well-described aspects of heroism, this phenomenon is still understudied in sociology. Most of the projects and publications focus on identifying ‘heroes’ in public opinion or media discourse rather than on explaining why communities/societies ‘appoint’ some people heroes, and what is the conventional meaning of the word ‘hero’. Society has always paid close attention to the so-called ‘outstanding personalities’: there are official and folk heroes in all cultures, and they have always served as a kind of reference group for decision-making and self-identification. Moreover, specific types of heroes serve as one of the cultural system’s means for (self) representation: the most typical hero is often directly related to the society’s ethical complex. The authors systematize the sociologically relevant interpretations of the words ‘hero’ and ‘heroism’ together with the typologies of heroic behavior and identify the contemporary trends in the empirical study of heroism, which are certainly sociological surveys. The second part of the article presents the results of the all-Russian online survey representing four age groups: 14-19-year-olds, 20-29, 30-49 and 50-69 (N=800, 200 respondents per each age group). The survey aimed at identifying and comparing the ideas of different Russian generations about heroes and heroism. Two surveys were conducted - in 2020 and 2022, and the authors focus on the changes in the social representations of the heroic. In general, the older generation names the hero-rescuer and the hero-warrior as the main heroic types, while the younger generation prefers the hero-rescuer and the hero-good-doer. In 2022, respondents were less willing to answer questions about heroes and heroism, especially about manifestations of military heroism, but key social representations of the heroic did not change.
About the authors
I. V. Trotsuk
RUDN University; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; National Research University Higher School of Economics
Author for correspondence.
Email: irina.trotsuk@yandex.ru
доктор социологических наук, профессор кафедры социологии Российского университета дружбы народов; ведущий научный сотрудник Центра аграрных исследований Российской академии народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте Российской Федерации и Центра фундаментальной социологии Национального исследовательского университета «Высшая школа экономики» Miklukho-Maklaya St.,6, Moscow,117198, Russia; Vernadskogo Prosp., 84, Moscow, 119571, Russia; Myasnitskaya St., 20, Moscow, 101000, Russia
M. V. Subbotina
RUDN University
Email: mariya.subbotina.1995@mail.ru
кандидат социологических наук, ассистент кафедры социологии Miklukho-Maklaya St.,6, Moscow,117198, Russia
References
- Akimov A.E. Physics of the spiritual heroism. Three Keys. Pedagogical Bulletin. 2004; 8. (In Russ.).
- Alekseev A.A. The most prominent historical figures according to the Levada Center polls (1989–2017). URL: http://www.cogita.ru/a.n.-alekseev/andrei-alekseev-1/samyevydayuschiesya-istoricheskie-lichnosti. (In Russ.).
- Mironets E.V., Yakovleva I.P. Heroism in the student youth representations. Scientific Journal of KubSAU. 2016; 119. (In Russ.).
- Ozhegov S.I., Shvedova N.Yu. Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary. 1949–1992. URL: https:// slovarozhegova.ru. (In Russ.).
- Fundamentals of Spiritual Culture (Teacher’s Encyclopedic Dictionary). Ekaterinburg; 2000. (In Russ.).
- Plakhov V.D. Heroes and Heroism. Contemporary Interpretation of the Age-Old Problem. Moscow; 2008. (In Russ.).
- Complete Dictionary of Foreign Words in the Russian Language. Moscow; 1907. (In Russ.).
- Propp V.Ya. Morphology of the Folktale. Leningrad; 2001. (In Russ.).
- Dictionary of the Russian Language: in 4 vols. Ed. By A.P. Evgenieva. Moscow; 1999. (In Russ.).
- Sokolova B.Yu. Definitions of the concept “hero”. Understanding Culture as the Key to the Renewal of Society. Contribution of Contemporary Science to the General Human Culture. Sevastopol; 2009. (In Russ.).
- Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary. URL: https://ushakovdictionary.ru/word. php?wordid=10163. (In Russ.).
- Trotsuk I.V., Subbotina M.V. Sociological interpretation of concepts with a complex connotation: Relationship of heroism and happiness. Humanities, Social-Economic and Social Sciences. 2019; 12. (In Russ.).
- Trotsuk I.V., Subbotina M.V. Assessment of cinematographic influence on social representations of heroism: Approbation of an approach. Communicology. 2018; 6 (4). (In Russ.).
- Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. Moscow; 1983. (In Russ.).
- Frey J.N. How to Write a Brilliant Novel. Saint Petersburg; 2005. (In Russ.).
- Shaposhnikova L.V. Wisdom of the Ages. Moscow; 1996. (In Russ.).
- Allison S.T. Millennials, heroes, and villains: The confluence of generational moral complexity. Heroes and Villains of the Millennial Generation. University of Richmond; 2018.
- Allison S.T., Goethals G.R. Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them. Oxford University Press; 2011.
- Allison S.T., Goethals G.R. Heroic Leadership: An Influence Taxonomy of 100 Exceptional Individuals. New York; 2013.
- Anderson J.W. Military heroism: An occupational definition. Armed Forces & Society. 1986; 12 (4).
- Atkinson C.D.E., Wesselmann E.D., Lannin D.G. Understanding why some whistleblowers are venerated and others vilified. Heroism Science. 2022; 7 (2).
- Bernstein A. The philosophical foundations of heroism. URL: http://www.mikementzer.com/heroism.html.
- Efthimiou O., Allison S.T. Heroism science: Frameworks for an emerging field. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 2018; 58 (5).
- Efthimiou O. The hero organism: Advancing the embodiment of heroism thesis in the 21st century. S.T. Allison, G.R. Goethals, R.M. Kramer (Eds.). Handbook of Heroism and Heroic Leadership. New York; 2017.
- Farley F. The real heroes of “The Dark Knight” psychology today. 2012. URL: https://www. psychologytoday.com/blog/the-peoples-professor/201207/the-realheroes-the-dark-knight.
- Franco Z., Blau K., Zimbardo P. Heroism: A conceptual analysis and differentiation between heroic action and altruism. Review of General Psychology. 2011; 15 (2).
- Franco Z., Zimbardo P. Celebrating Heroism and Understanding Heroic Behavior. Palo Alto; 2006.
- Friend S.H., Schadt E.E. Clues from the resilient. Science. 2014; 244.
- Glazer M.P., Glazer P.M. On the trail of courageous behavior. Sociological Inquiry. 1999; 69.
- Goethals G.R., Allison S.T. Making heroes: The construction of courage, competence, and virtue. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 2012; 46.
- Hefner P. Embodied science: Recentering religion-and-science. Zygon. 2010; 45.
- Johnson R.C. Attributes of Carnegie medalists performing acts of heroism and of the recipients of these acts. Ethology and Sociobiology. 1996; 17.
- Keczer Z., File B., Orosz G., Zimbardo P.G. Social representations of hero and everyday hero: A network study from representative samples. PLoS. 2016; 11 (8).
- Kinsella E.L., English A., McMahon J. Zeroing in on heroes: Adolescents’ perceptions of hero features and functions. Heroism Science. 2020; 5 (2).
- Klisanin D. Collaborative heroism: Exploring the impact of social media initiatives. Media Psychology Review. 2015; 9 (2).
- Kohen A., Langdon M., Riches B.R. The making of a hero: Cultivating empathy, altruism, and heroic imagination. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 2019; 59 (4).
- Trivers R.L. The evolution of reciprocal altruism. Quarterly Review of Biology. 1971; 46.
- Zimbardo P.G. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York; 2007.
Supplementary files
