Civil courage: Implicit theories, related concepts, and measurement

Abstract

Civil courage is defined as brave behavior accompanied by anger and indignation that intends to enforce societal and ethical norms without considering one's own social costs. It is argued that civil courage is clearly distinguishable from helping behavior and other forms of courage. In this review of both published and unpublished research, we demonstrate that people's implicit theories of civil courage and helping behavior clearly differ. Moreover, it is shown that the number of bystanders and mood affect helping behavior, but not civil courage. Finally, specific determinants of civil courage and its measurement are presented.