Can Superman Trigger Heroic Helping in People?

Summary: Researchers report priming people with images of superheros increases their prosocial behaviors.

Source: Frontiers.

Might people be more likely to help a stranger or donate money immediately after watching the latest Marvel film? Heroes demonstrate extraordinary courage, go to great lengths to help others, and live meaningful lives. They are inspirational moral examples for many people—but do their heroic actions trigger people to give a helping hand themselves? A new set of studies suggests this is indeed the case. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, it finds that priming people with superhero images increases prosocial intentions and behaviors.

“Given that superheroes are an increasingly large and accessible part of our cultures, even if merely symbolically, we were interested in exploring their role in inspiring virtuous and meaningful lives,” says Dr. Jeffrey D. Green of the Virginia Commonwealth University, who carried out the study together with colleagues from his University and from Hope College, USA.

“Heroes come in many shapes and forms. Some are fictional and others are real-life role models. We decided to study the effect of well-known fictional heroes, such as Superman or Spiderman, as people may tend to be more motivated to emulate behaviors where there is little realism,” adds Green.

The researchers exposed 245 individuals to common household pictures with either subtle superhero images (such as Spiderman and Superman) or neutral images. Participants primed with superhero images reported greater intentions to engage in prosocial behaviors. The perception of meaning in life was not directly influenced by the superhero prime, but indirectly through helping intentions: the superhero prime increased helping intentions, which, in turn, increased felt meaning in life.

Given that the experiment relied on self-reported helping intentions, a second experiment was performed to examine actual helping behavior. A further 123 individuals were subtlety primed with a superhero image (Superman poster on the wall) versus a neutral image (picture of a bicycle), then invited to help with a tedious experimental task for no extra credit. Those primed with the Superman poster were significantly more likely to help than those primed with a bicycle. No differences were found between the two groups for meaning in life, which was measured through a Meaning in Life Questionnaire.

“These experiments highlight how even the subtle activation of heroic constructs through visual images of superheroes may influence intentions to help as well as actual helping behavior,” says Green.

superman logo
Future research could advance this work by examining the effects of real-life heroic figures, who may or may not be known personally, which also adds the element of possibly flawed characters. NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.

Future research could advance this work by examining the effects of real-life heroic figures, who may or may not be known personally, which also adds the element of possibly flawed characters. Further, the effects of more explicit priming could be explored, such as talking or writing about a hero. The willingness to engage in helping actions could also be extended to tasks that are more strongly associated with meaning in life such as donating to charity or helping an individual in need.

“Heroes loom large as exemplars of morality. They often embody virtues that we wish to express in our lives. If subtle images of heroes trigger such positive behaviors, their inspirational role may well have the potential to extend beyond the prosocial behaviors explored in this study,” concludes Green.

About this neuroscience research article

Source: Frontiers
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Open access research for “Heroic Helping: The Effects of Priming Superhero Images on Prosociality” by Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Rachel Hibbard, Megan Edwards, Evan Johnson, Kirstin Diepholz, Hanna Newbound, Andrew Shay, Russell Houpt, Athena Cairo and Jeffrey D. Green in Frontiers in Psychology. Published November 23 2018.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02243

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Frontiers”Can Superman Trigger Heroic Helping in People?.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 26 November 2018.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/superheros-helping-10251/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Frontiers(2018, November 26). Can Superman Trigger Heroic Helping in People?. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved November 26, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/superheros-helping-10251/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Frontiers”Can Superman Trigger Heroic Helping in People?.” https://neurosciencenews.com/superheros-helping-10251/ (accessed November 26, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Retroactive and graded prioritization of memory by reward

Two experiments examined how exposure to superhero images influences both prosociality and meaning in life. In Experiment 1 (N = 246) exposed individuals to scenes with superhero images or neutral images. Individuals primed with superhero images reported greater helping intentions relative to the control group, which, in turn, were associated with increased meaning in life (indirect effect only; no direct effect). In Experiment 2 (N = 123), individuals exposed to a superhero poster helped an experimenter in a tedious task more than those exposed to a bicycle poster, though no differences were found for meaning in life. These results suggest that subtle activation of superhero stimuli increases prosocial intentions and behavior.

Feel free to share this Neuroscience News.
Join our Newsletter
I agree to have my personal information transferred to AWeber for Neuroscience Newsletter ( more information )
Sign up to receive our recent neuroscience headlines and summaries sent to your email once a day, totally free.
We hate spam and only use your email to contact you about newsletters. You can cancel your subscription any time.