Different Types of Fear, Different Types of Courage Unless one experiences the sensation of fear, subjectively and/or physically, no courage is required.Īs an astute observer of human behavior, Mark Twain, observed, "Courage is resilience to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear" (Fitzhenry, 1993, p. Such an assertion would make a virtue out of having an unresponsive autonomic nervous system in circumstances fearful to others. It seems unwarranted, therefore, to suggest that the fearless person is courageous. If a person is fearless, the behavioral component of fear is not at issue, for there is no reason to avoid or escape something that elicits no subjective or physical sensation of fear. The courageous person effects an uncoupling of fear's components by resisting the behavioral response and facing the fearful situation, despite the discomfort produced by subjective and/or physical reactions. These components are imperfectly linked, and it is possible to experience one or two without another. the behavioral response to fear (e.g., an effort to escape the fearful situation).the physiological reaction to fear (e.g., increased heart rate).Rachman (1990) entered this debate with a definition of courage that takes into account three components of fear: However, some argue that courage is synonymous with fearlessness, while others suggest that the presence or the absence of fear has nothing to do with courage. Most philosophers and psychologists agree that courage involves persistence in danger or hardship. Persistence and Fear: Two Components of Courage? The literature reflects this imbalance and contributes to the lack of consensus on a simple definition. But psychologists, who had a significantly later start, have focused more on fear than on courage. Philosophers have pondered these questions since antiquity. "The secret of life is this: When you hear the sound of the cannons, walk toward them." - Marcel FranceĬourage is a universally admired virtue, and courageous individuals in all cultures have survived across time to become the heroes of subsequent generations.
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