The Extended Definition of Courage
Many contemporary and historic cultures praise courage as a virtue. Although an operational definition of the concept is essential to good research, there exists no consensus meaning. According to Ashton (2017), research has explored the notion of professional courage, with reference to literature from the disciplines of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and management science. Work colleagues that have experienced a dilemma and a solution to it converse about each other’s brave acts and how they are impressed with their fellow professionals’ actions. Pury (2017) observes that courage has historically been subdivided into two, and later three, separate types. The distinguishing features for physical, moral, and vital courage are the kinds of risks faced, goals pursued, or context for the courageous behavior. Therefore, courage entails taking a worthwhile risk to do the right thing, explained in purely emotional terms, regarding acting despite fear, and defining it in terms of risk and goals, concerning acting for a noble reason.
Hence, bravery has often been expressed as overcoming fears for no purpose except the act itself. According to Kugel et al. (2017), an action like crossing a rope bridge over a deep gorge is brave behavior, although without additional components inherent in courage and heroism. The emotional terms describing the act in heroic deeds underline the worthwhile conduct element of bravery. Hence, heroism, which entails acting in a prosocial manner despite facing a personal risk, constitutes a brave act (Kugel et al., 2017). For instance, a civilian fire rescue is purely heroic because the marshal takes risks and overcomes fear to ensure the safety of people facing an inferno disaster. The risk taken can be rational or irrational level, evidenced in comparing the firefighter and the individual crossing the bridge respectively. Hence, heroes show bravery and morality in their physical acts. Essentially, courage related to overcoming fear entails the interaction of personal characteristics and situational demands of courageous acts, which describes the physical type.
Furthermore, the extended definition considers courage as taking a worthwhile risk while acting for a noble reason. Norton and Weiss (2009) highlight how the construct is opposed to the fearfulness component, as expressed in the perspective that links courageous acts with overcoming fear. Therefore, the worthwhile risk stresses the view that the act has an important and moral goal. For instance, an individual who objects to military service risks public ridicule and faces intense social pressure. Nonetheless, he or she defends his or her political, religious, or pacifistic beliefs courageously (Norton& Weiss, 2009). Hence, he or she acts for a noble reason by objecting to military conflict, perhaps preferring diplomatic resolution of issues. Similarly, people who are willing to risk their lives for lasting world peace by engaging in antiterrorism combat depict courage. Therefore, the individual demonstrates moral courage by taking action in the cause of larger moral or social justice ideologies (Pury, 2017).
Additionally, courage underlines the awareness and acceptance of a threat, with a beneficial goal in mind. According to Lopez et al. (2014), patients battling a disease through surgery and treatment regimens have to demonstrate courageousness against the chronic condition. For example, they have to develop a deep personal awareness concerning the potential short-term and long-term effects of the illness. Therefore, they accept the threat of chronic disease and consider how it affects their significant others, values, and hope (Lopez et al., 2014). They choose to live a quality life by accepting their condition and not letting the illness define them, such as by actively participating in social events like sport. The goal is to live life to its fullness. Similarly, the health professionals caring for the terminally ill patients demonstrate vital courage by using their expertise to save human lives and to improve the life quality of those they serve (Lopez et al., 2014). Their courageousness emerges when they encourage the patients and use their competence and compassion to care for the ailing individuals. Hence, vital courage means transcending a significant threat like a serious medical risk to live a meaningful life.
An important aspect of courage is that intentions, not outcomes, often define courageous acts. Ashton (2017) notes that bravery does not always have to pay off for the individual. No wonder, courage entails an individual’s willful, intentional act that he or she executes after mindful deliberation. The action also involves objective substantial risk, without the guarantee for the actor that he or she will not come to any harm (Ashton, 2017). People show courage with the primary motivation to contribute a noble good or worthy outcome. However, they sometimes act in the presence of the emotion of fear. Ashton (2017) further observes that although courage is associated with action, sometimes the courageous path is not to act. For instance, in a situation where behavior is immoral or harmful, the individual’s resistance to the pressure to do it is courageous. Moreover, a therapist declining a manager’s request to admit a client that would better be served elsewhere demonstrates acting with integrity in the face of social pressure. Thus, professional courage is situation-specific to the individual as a matter that is straightforward to one person might be risky to another due to varying skills, experiences, organizational position, self-concept, and moral values.
Summarily, courage is a complex notion to define, despite its recognition as a virtue in contemporary and historic cultures. However, available definitions indicate the concept can describe an individual’s ability to take a worthwhile risk despite fear, in a risky situation, but with a goal in mind. The individual overcomes fears for the act’s purpose, with a noble reason, and with the awareness and acceptance of the danger to attain a beneficial goal. Generally, the definition of courage recognizes that intentions matter more than outcomes.
References
Ashton, R. (2017). Professional courage: What does it mean for practitioner psychologists? Education Psychology Research and Practice, 3(1), 2-14.
Kugel, U., Hausman, C., Black, L., & Bongar, B. (2017). Psychology of Physical Bravery. Oxford Handbooks Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935291.013.36
Lopez, S. J., Snyder, C. R., & Pedrotti, J. T. (2014). Positive Psychology: The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths (3rd ed.). Sage.
Norton, P. J., & Weiss, B. J. (2009). The role of courage on behavioral approach in a fear-eliciting situation: A proof-of-concept pilot study. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(2), 212-217.
Pury, C. L. S. (2017). Courage. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0198