Abstract

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Research indicates that the presence of physical courage or bravery is linked to increased resilience, decreased PTSD-related symptomatology, and greater feelings of personal competence. Seligman identifies courage as a factor of strength in his positive psychology model, and courage is widely identified as a healing component in clinical psychology. Recent data collected from the Physical Courage Survey (PCS), analyzing acts of physical courage, demographic variables, and personality characteristics indicate that bravery and courage are probably impacted by both nature and nurture. More specifically, individuals who performed acts of heroism and bravery are more likely to be self-confident, be an older child, have a tendency to take risk and seek sensation, be less cautious, be resilient, have a greater sense of humor, be a leader, have a deep sense of empathy for others, and attribute their success on the battlefield to training and modeling of others.