According to the authors of a recent study published in the Journal of Personality, given the right circumstances, we can all be that morally courageous person who steps up to do the right thing, even if it's hard. This challenges the common perception that moral courage is reserved for exceptionally brave individuals.
The authors of this study define moral courage as the quality exhibited when we are moved to action by a perceived violation of our moral principles, especially in situations where involvement can be harmful to ourselves. It’s about upholding and protecting moral norms that we believe are worth defending.
As the authors note: 'Our everyday lives might be rich with opportunities for morally courageous behavior when we witness unfairness, harassment, discrimination, bullying, ostracism, dishonesty, corruption, violence, or other illegal, harmful, and norm-violating behavior.' This emphasizes that moral courage can manifest in many ordinary situations.
We are more likely to demonstrate moral courage if the norm violation we have observed is blatant, if we believe it is our responsibility to act, and if we feel confident that our intervention would be effective.
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