Mindless Eating: Heroism

What’s a Hero Look Like?

Cornell Heroism Study Offers New Ideas for Recruitment and Training

ITHACA, NY – What does a hero look like? A new Cornell study shows it’s not always the most eager and aggressive person in the unit. The results have important implications in recruiting and training the next generation of heroes in law enforcement, fire fighting, and emergency rescue.

Because heroism in these professions is often difficult to identify, the researchers examined those who were awarded medals for heroism in the military. The study examined over 500 veterans from World War II who were surveyed and asked to evaluate themselves on a number of qualities. When compared to others, the 83 veterans who had been awarded medals for heroism (Bronze Star or higher) displayed greater degrees of loyalty, leadership, and risk-taking, and they evaluated themselves as being highly adaptable to change.

Interestingly, there were two distinct groups of heroes – reluctant heroes and eager heroes. “Whereas eager heroes often tried to ‘prove themselves’, reluctant ones often just saw themselves as ‘doing their duty’ or ‘protecting their buddies,’” said lead researcher, Cornell Professor Brian Wansink, author of the book Mindless Eating. “While eager heroes took more risks, reluctant heroes tended to be more loyal and more concerned with their unit.”

John S. Dyson, who was awarded the Bronze Star in Vietnam, said this insight is often hidden in popular ideas of heroism. “To me, heroes are the people who respond to an unexpected situation with courage and selflessness,” Dyson said, “They often say, ‘I just did what needed doing.”

The researchers hope these findings lead to an improved recruiting and training process. The recruiting ideal has often been focused on the eager high-energy, athletic high school leader. Cornell researcher Collin Payne said, “They (recruiters) need to be careful to not discount the more reserved student who loyalty belongs to many organizations, but who may be only a modest athlete. These individuals offer “another valuable profile,” that’s a characteristic that could easily be overlooked in recruitment.

Similarly, the study warns that many basic training programs favor those with eager hero profiles. These people may often be grandstanders and overshadow their reluctant counterpart, who tend to be efficient, respectful of authority, and concerned for the welfare of the unit. This person is likely to perform just as heroically as their eager counterpart, but they may not show the same self-centered confidence,” said Koert van Ittersum, coauthor and Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech. “Instead, it is their ability to work well with others and to make friends easily that should attract the attention of trainers.”

“We’re conditioned to think of heroes as being John Wayne-like,” said Wansink. “Some of them are. But there are a lot others who are more like the Captain that Tom Hanks portrayed in (the movie) Saving Private Ryan.”

The study “Profiling the Heroic Leader: Empirical Lessons from Combat-Decorated Veterans of World War II” is forthcoming in Leadership Quarterly.

More information: Sandra Cuellar,Cornell University, (607) 254-4960, src6@cornell.edu


World War II veteran Charles Murz, 83, is reflected in a display case featuring two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and other awards he received while with the 101st Airborne.	WWII Army veteran William Carpenter