By Scott T. Allison
In 2025, construction worker Luis Alvarez demonstrated what psychologists call heroic self-efficacy when he rushed into the ocean to help a young girl who had been attacked by a shark. While others watched in shock, Alvarez acted immediately, entering dangerous waters and helping to apply a tourniquet that slowed the girl’s severe bleeding until emergency responders arrived.
Alvarez’s rapid and decisive intervention reflected more than spontaneous courage; it revealed a confident belief in his ability to respond effectively in a life-threatening situation. Such moments illustrate the essence of heroic self-efficacy — the confidence that one can step forward and act effectively when circumstances call for courage and service to others.
Let’s dive into the background of this idea, beginning with Bandura’s (1977) innovative self-efficacy theory.
Bandura proposed that individuals actively shape their environments through cognitive, affective, and behavioral interactions. Through this process, people regulate their behavior in pursuit of goals and develop their sense of self. Central to the theory is the idea that beliefs about personal capability are among the strongest predictors of behavior, influencing the goals individuals set, the activities they pursue, their persistence in the face of obstacles, and their decision-making and problem-solving strategies (Bandura 1977; Maddux and Gosselin 2012).
Self-efficacy refers to beliefs about one’s ability to respond effectively to specific challenges and conditions. These beliefs are not personality traits or fixed characteristics but develop across the lifespan through interaction with the environment (Maddux and Gosselin 2012; Maddux and Kleiman 2021). Self-efficacy expectations are typically domain-specific; confidence in one area does not necessarily translate to another. Self-efficacy can also operate at both individual and collective levels. Collective efficacy refers to shared beliefs about a group’s capacity to achieve desired goals and is particularly relevant for social heroes who act within groups or organizations (Bandura 2000; Condren 2019).
Self-efficacy beliefs develop from five primary sources:
- performance experiences
- vicarious experiences
- imagined experiences
- verbal persuasion
- physiological and emotional states
Performance experiences—successes and failures in relevant situations—are the most powerful source because they provide direct evidence of one’s capabilities. Observing role models provides vicarious experiences that help individuals learn effective strategies and increase confidence. Imagined experiences and verbal encouragement can also strengthen efficacy beliefs, though typically less strongly. Finally, physiological and emotional states influence perceived capability, with negative emotional states often undermining self-efficacy.
Applied to heroism, heroic self-efficacy refers to beliefs about one’s ability to respond effectively in situations requiring courageous or prosocial action. Psychologist Michael Condren (2024) has conducted studies demonstrating the importance of self-efficacy in predicting heroic behavior.
People who have risked their lives to save others often shared experiences that fostered heroic self-efficacy (Kohen et al. 2017). Many had previously imagined situations requiring intervention and had practiced helping behaviors in everyday life. They also possessed relevant skills and experiences that increased confidence in their ability to act effectively. These findings highlight the importance of both imagined and performance experiences in developing heroic self-efficacy.
Other forms of heroism demonstrate the importance of social influences. Dissident artists in communist Poland developed heroic self-efficacy partly through exposure to role models within their families and social networks (Csikszentmihalyi et al. 2017). These vicarious experiences provided models of courageous action and sometimes served as direct entry points into dissident activities. Participation in dissident groups then provided performance experiences that strengthened both individual and collective efficacy beliefs.
Similar developmental patterns appear among social activists. Many activists engaged in value-driven challenges to authority during adolescence or even childhood, providing early performance experiences that shaped their sense of efficacy (Condren 2019). Observing activist organizations and their public actions provided vicarious experiences that motivated participation and strengthened confidence in their ability to contribute effectively. Participation in activist groups further reinforced both self-efficacy and collective efficacy beliefs.
Vicarious experiences of heroic action may also stimulate the heroic imagination, defined as a mindset oriented toward helping others and taking risks for moral causes (Franco et al. 2011). This mindset develops through lifelong interaction with one’s environment and can foster the development of heroic self-efficacy (Allison et al. 2017). Accordingly, hero training programs aim to cultivate heroic imagination and consciousness in order to strengthen heroic self-efficacy. Programs such as the Heroic Imagination Project use role models and guided imagination exercises to help participants envision how they would respond in situations requiring courageous action (Riches et al. 2020).
Overall, heroic self-efficacy plays a central role in the developmental process of heroism. By strengthening individuals’ confidence in their ability to act effectively in challenging situations, heroic self-efficacy increases the likelihood that people will translate prosocial values into heroic action.
REFERENCES
Allison, Scott T., George R. Goethals, and Roderick M. Kramer. 2017. Introduction: Setting the scene: The rise and coalescence of heroism science. In Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership, ed. Scott T. Allison, George R. Goethals, and Roderick M. Kramer, 1–16. Routledge.
Bandura, Albert. 1977. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review 84 (2): 191–215.
Bandura, Albert. 2000. Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science 9 (3): 75–78.
Condren, Michael. 2024. Heroic self-efficacy. In S. Allison, J. Beggan, & G. Goethals (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies. Springer Nature.
Condren, Michael. 2019. Self-directed universalists: Social heroes and value-oriented challenges to authority. Heroism Science 4 (2).
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, Michael Condren, and Izabela Lebuda. 2017. Deviant heroes and social heroism in everyday life: Activists and artists. In Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership, ed Scott T. Allison, George R. Goethals, and Roderick M. Kramer, 249–261. Routledge.
Franco, Zeno E., Kathy Blau, and Philip G. Zimbardo. 2011. Heroism: A conceptual analysis and differentiation between heroic action and altruism. Review of General Psychology 15 (2): 99–113.
Kohen, Ari, Matt Langdon, and Brian R. Riches. 2017. The making of a hero: Cultivating empathy, altruism, and heroic imagination. Journal of Humanistic Psychology.