Euphoria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Playing can induce an intense state of happiness and contentment, like this young girl playing in the snow.

Euphoria ( /juːˈfɔːriə/) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music, and dancing, can induce a state of euphoria. Euphoria is also a symptom of certain neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders, such as mania. Romantic love and components of the human sexual response cycle are also associated with the induction of euphoria. Certain drugs, many of which are addictive, can cause euphoria, which at least partially motivates their recreational use.

Hedonic hotspots – i.e., the pleasure centers of the brain – are functionally linked. Activation of one hotspot results in the recruitment of the others. Inhibition of one hotspot results in the blunting of the effects of activating another hotspot. Therefore, the simultaneous activation of every hedonic hotspot within the reward system is believed to be necessary for generating the sensation of an intense euphoria.

History of the term

The word "euphoria" is derived from the Ancient Greek terms εὐφορία: εὖ eu meaning "well" and φέρω pherō meaning "to bear". It is semantically opposite to dysphoria. 

A 1706 English dictionary defines euphoria as "the well bearing of the Operation of a Medicine, i.e., when the patient finds himself eas'd or reliev'd by it".

In the 1860s, the English physician Thomas Laycock described euphoria as the feeling of bodily well-being and hopefulness; he noted its misplaced presentation in the final stage of some terminal illnesses and attributed such euphoria to neurological dysfunction. Sigmund Freud's 1884 monograph Über Coca described (his own) consumption of cocaine producing "the normal euphoria of a healthy person", while about 1890 the German neuropsychiatrist Carl Wernicke lectured about the "abnormal euphoria" in patients with mania.

A 1903 article in The Boston Daily Globe refers to euphoria as "pleasant excitement" and "the sense of ease and well-being". In 1920 Popular Science magazine described euphoria as "a high sounding name" meaning "feeling fit": normally making life worth living, motivating drug use, and ill formed in certain mental illnesses. Robert S. Woodworth's 1921 textbook Psychology: A study of mental life, describes euphoria as an organic state which is the opposite of fatigue, and "means about the same as feeling good."

In 1940 The Journal of Psychology defined euphoria as a "state of general well being ... and pleasantly toned feeling." A decade later, finding ordinary feelings of well being difficult to evaluate, American addiction researcher Harris Isbell redefined euphoria as behavioral changes and objective signs typical of morphine. However, in 1957 British pharmacologist D. A. Cahal did not regard opioid euphoria as medically undesirable but an effect which "enhance[s] the value of a major analgesic." The 1977 edition of A Concise Encyclopaedia of Psychiatry called euphoria "a mood of contentment and well-being," with pathologic associations when used in a psychiatric context. As a sign of cerebral disease, it was described as bland and out of context, representing an inability to experience negative emotion.

In the 21st century, euphoria is generally defined as a state of great happiness, well-being and excitement, which may be normal, or abnormal and inappropriate when associated with psychoactive drugs, manic states, or brain disease or injury.

Neural substrates

Hedonic hotspots – i.e., the pleasure centers of the brain – are functionally linked. Activation of one hotspot results in the recruitment of the others. Inhibition of one hot spot results in the blunting of the effects of activating another hotspot. Therefore, the simultaneous activation of every hedonic hotspot within the reward system is believed to be necessary for generating the sensation of euphoria.

Types

Many different types of stimuli can induce euphoria, including psychoactive drugs, natural rewards, and social activities. Affective disorders such as unipolar mania or bipolar disorder can involve euphoria as a symptom.

Exercise-induced

Runners can experience a euphoric state often called a "runner's high".

Continuous physical exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, can induce a state of euphoria; for example, distance running is often associated with a "runner's high", which is a pronounced state of exercise-induced euphoria. Exercise is known to affect dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens, producing euphoria as a result, through increased biosynthesis of three particular neurochemicals: anandamide (an endocannabinoid), β-endorphin (an endogenous opioid), and phenethylamine (a trace amine and amphetamine analog).

Music euphoria

Euphoria can occur as a result of dancing to music, music-making, and listening to emotionally arousing music. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the reward system plays a central role in mediating music-induced pleasure. Pleasurable emotionally arousing music strongly increases dopamine neurotransmission in the dopaminergic pathways that project to the striatum (i.e., the mesolimbic pathway and nigrostriatal pathway). Approximately 5% of the population experiences a phenomenon termed "musical anhedonia", in which individuals do not experience pleasure from listening to emotionally arousing music despite having the ability to perceive the intended emotion that is conveyed in passages of music.

Copulation-induced

The various stages of copulation may also be described as inducing euphoria in some people. Various analysts have described either the entire act of copulation, the moments leading to orgasm, or the orgasm itself as the pinnacle of human pleasure or euphoria.

Drug-induced

A large dose of methamphetamine causes a drug-induced euphoria.

A euphoriant is a type of psychoactive drug which tends to induce euphoria. Most euphoriants are addictive drugs due to their reinforcing properties and ability to activate the brain's reward system.

Stimulants

Dopaminergic stimulants like amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, and methylphenidate are euphoriants. Nicotine is a parasympathetic stimulant that acts as a mild euphoriant in some people.

Some textbooks state that caffeine is a mild euphoriant, others state that it is not a euphoriant, and one states that it is and is not a euphoriant.

Chewing areca nut (seeds from the Areca catechu palm) with slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) – a common practice in South- and Southeast Asia – produces stimulant effects and euphoria. The major psychoactive ingredients – arecoline (a muscarinic receptor partial agonist) and arecaidine (a GABA reuptake inhibitor) – are responsible for the euphoric effect.

Depressants

Certain depressants can produce euphoria; some of the euphoriant drugs in this class include alcohol in moderate doses, γ-hydroxybutyric acid, and ketamine.

Some barbiturates and benzodiazepines may cause euphoria. Euphoriant effects are determined by the drug's speed of onset, increasing dose, and with intravenous administration. Barbiturates more likely to cause euphoria include amobarbital, secobarbital and pentobarbital. Benzodiazepines more likely to cause euphoria are flunitrazepam, alprazolam and clonazepam. Benzodiazepines also tend to enhance opioid-induced euphoria.

Pregabalin induces dose-dependent euphoria. Occurring in a small percentage of individuals at recommended doses, euphoria is increasingly frequent at supratherapeutic doses (or with intravenous- or nasal administration). At doses five times the maximum recommended, intense euphoria is reported. Another GABA analogue, gabapentin, may induce euphoria. Characterized as opioid-like but less intense, it may occur at supratherapeutic doses, or in combination with other drugs, such as opioids or alcohol. Ethosuximide and perampanel can also produce euphoria at therapeutic doses.

Opioids

µ-Opioid receptor agonists are a set of euphoriants that include drugs such as heroin, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, and fentanyl. By contrast, κ-opioid receptor agonists, like the endogenous neuropeptide dynorphin, are known to cause dysphoria, a mood state opposite to euphoria that involves feelings of profound discontent.

Cannabinoids

Cannabinoid receptor 1 agonists are a group of euphoriants that includes certain plant-based cannabinoids (e.g., THC from the cannabis plant), endogenous cannabinoids (e.g., anandamide), and synthetic cannabinoids.

Inhalants

Certain gases, like nitrous oxide (N₂O, aka "laughing gas"), can induce euphoria when inhaled.

Glucocorticoids

Acute exogenous glucocorticoid administration is known to produce euphoria, but this effect is not observed with long-term exposure.

Fasting–induced

Fasting has been associated with improved mood, well-being, and sometimes euphoria. Various mechanisms have been proposed and possible applications in treating depression considered.

Asphyxia-induced

Asphyxiation initially produces an extreme feeling of euphoria leading some people to intentionally induce temporary asphyxiation. Erotic asphyxiation typically employs strangulation to produce euphoria which enhances masturbation and orgasm. The choking game, prevalent in adolescents, uses brief hypoxia in the brain to achieve euphoria. Strangulation, or hyperventilation followed by breath holding are commonly used to achieve the effects. Accidental deaths occur from both practices but are often mislabeled as suicide.

Neuropsychiatric

Mania

Euphoria is also strongly associated with both hypomania and mania, mental states characterized by a pathological heightening of mood, which may be either euphoric or irritable, in addition to other symptoms, such as pressured speech, flight of ideas, and grandiosity.

Although hypomania and mania are syndromes with multiple etiologies (that is, ones that may arise from any number of conditions), they are most commonly seen in bipolar disorder, a psychiatric illness characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression.

Epilepsy

Euphoria may occur during auras of seizures typically originating in the temporal lobe, but affecting the anterior insular cortex. This euphoria is symptomatic of a rare syndrome called ecstatic seizures, often also involving mystical experiences. Euphoria (or more commonly dysphoria) may also occur in periods between epileptic seizures. This condition, interictal dysphoric disorder, is considered an atypical affective disorder. Persons who experience feelings of depression or anxiety between or before seizures occasionally experience euphoria afterwards.

Migraine

Some persons experience euphoria in the prodrome – hours to days before the onset – of a migraine headache. Similarly, a euphoric state occurs in some persons following the migraine episode.

Multiple sclerosis

Euphoria sometimes occurs in persons with multiple sclerosis as the illness progresses. This euphoria is part of a syndrome originally called euphoria sclerotica, which typically includes disinhibition and other symptoms of cognitive and behavioral dysfunction.

Courage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

God Speed by Edmund Leighton

Courage (also called bravery or valour) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss. 

The classical virtue of fortitude (andreia, fortitudo) is also translated "courage", but includes the aspects of perseverance and patience.

In the Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Kierkegaard. 

Much earlier, in the Hindu tradition, mythology has given many examples of bravery, valour and courage. Ramayana and Mahabharatha have in them many examples of both physical and moral courage. 

In the Eastern tradition, some thoughts on courage were offered by the Tao Te Ching. More recently, courage has been explored by the discipline of psychology.

Characteristics of Courage

Daniel Putman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin - Fox Valley, wrote an article titled "The Emotions of Courage". Using a text from Aristotle's Nicomanachean Ethics as the basis for his article, he discusses the relationship between fear and confidence in the emotion of courage. 

First, in feelings of fear and confidence the mean is bravery (andreia).The excessively fearless person is nameless...while the one who is excessively confident is rash; the one who is excessively afraid and deficient in confidence is cowardly.

He states that "courage involves deliberate choice in the face of painful or fearful circumstances for the sake of a worthy goal". With this realization, Putman concludes that "there is a close connection between fear and confidence". 

Fear & Confidence in Relation to Courage

Fear and confidence in relation to courage can determine the success of a courageous act or goal.They can be seen as the independent variables in courage, and their relationship can affect how we respond to fear.  In addition, the confidence that is being discussed here is self-confidence; Confidence in knowing one's skills and abilities and being able determine when to fight a fear or when to flight it.  Putman states that

The ideal in courage is not just a rigid control of fear, nor is it a denial of the emotion. The ideal is to judge a situation, accept the emotion as part of human nature and, we hope, use well-developed habits to confront the fear and allow reason to guide our behavior toward a worthwhile goal.

When trying to understand how fear and confidence play into courage, we need to look back at Aristotle's quote. According to Putman, Aristotle is referring to an appropriate level of fear and confidence in courage. "Fear, although it might vary from person to person, is not completely relative and is only appropriate if it "matches the danger of the situation"."The same goes for confidence in that there are two aspects to self-confidence in a dangerous situation.

• "a realistic confidence in the worth of a cause that motivates positive action."
• "knowing our own skills and abilities. A second meaning of appropriate confidence then is a form of self-knowledge."

Without an appropriate balance between fear and confidence when facing a threat, one cannot have the courage to overcome it. Putman states "if the two emotions are distinct, then excesses or deficiencies in either fear or confidence can distort courage."

Possible Distortions of Courage

As noted above, an "excess or deficiency of either fear or confidence, can distort courage". According to Putman, there are four possibilities:

1. "Higher level of fear than a situation calls for, low level of confidence"
2. "Excessively low level of fear when real fear is appropriate, excessively high level of confidence."
3. "Excessively high level of fear, yet the confidence is also excessively high."
4. "Excessively low level of fear and low level of confidence." 

Putman explains each of these possibilities accordingly: an individual in the first possibility is perceived as a coward; in the second possibility a rash person. . For the remaining two possibilites, he uses analogies to explain them. The third possibility can occur if someone experienced a traumatic experience that brought about great anxiety for much of their life.Then the fear that they experience would often be inappropriate and excessive. Yet as a defensive mechanism, the person would show excessive levels of confidence as a way to confront their irrational fear and ""prove" something to oneself or other". So this distortions could be seen as a coping method for their fear. For the last possibility, it can be seen as hopelessness. Putman says this is similar to "a person on a sinking ship".  "This example is of a person who has low confidence and possibly low self-regard who suddenly loses all fear". The distortion of low fear and low confidence can occur in a situation where an individual accepts what is going to happen to them. In regards to this example, they lose all fear because they know death is unavoidable and the reason it is unavoidable is because they do not have the ability to handle or overcome the situation.

Thus, Daniel Putman identifies fear and courage as being deeply intertwined and that they rely on distinct perceptions:

• "the danger of the situation"
• "the worthiness of the cause 
• "and the perception of one's ability."

Theories

Ancient Greece

The early Greek philosopher Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) set the groundwork for how courage would be viewed to future philosophers. Plato's early writings found in Laches show a discussion on courage, but they fail to come to a satisfactory conclusion on what courage is.

During the debate between three leaders, including Socrates, many definitions of courage are mentioned.

• "…a man willing to remain at his post and to defend himself against the enemy without running away…"
• "…a sort of endurance of the soul…"
• "…knowledge of the grounds of fear and hope..."

While many definitions are given in Plato's Laches, all are refuted, giving the reader a sense of Plato's argument style. Laches is an early writing of Plato's, which may be a reason he does not come to a clear conclusion. In this early writing, Plato is still developing his ideas and shows influence from his teachers like Socrates.

In one of his later writings, The Republic, Plato gives more concrete ideas of what he believes courage to be. Civic courage is described as a sort of perseverance – "preservation of the belief that has been inculcated by the law through education about what things and sorts of things are to be feared". Ideas of courage being perseverance also are seen in Laches. Plato further explains this perseverance as being able to persevere through all emotions, like suffering, pleasure, and fear.

As a desirable quality, courage is discussed broadly in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, where its vice of shortage is cowardice and its vice of excess is recklessness.

Ancient Rome

In the Roman Empire, courage formed part of the universal virtue of virtus. Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero (106–43 BCE) lists the cardinal virtues does not name them such:

Virtue may be defined as a habit of mind (animi) in harmony with reason and the order of nature. It has four parts: wisdom (prudentiam), justice, courage, temperance.

Medieval philosophy

In medieval virtue ethics, championed by Averroes and Thomas Aquinas and still important to Roman Catholicism, courage is referred to as "Fortitude".

According to Thomas Aquinas:

Among the cardinal virtues, prudence ranks first, justice second, fortitude third, temperance fourth, and after these the other virtues.

Part of his justification for this hierarchy is that:

Fortitude without justice is an occasion of injustice; since the stronger a man is the more ready is he to oppress the weaker.

On fortitude's general and special nature, Aquinas says:

The term "fortitude" can be taken in two ways. First, as simply denoting a certain firmness of mind, and in this sense it is a general virtue, or rather a condition of every virtue, since as the Philosopher states, it is requisite for every virtue to act firmly and immovably. Secondly, fortitude may be taken to denote firmness only in bearing and withstanding those things wherein it is most difficult to be firm, namely in certain grave dangers. Therefore Tully says, that "fortitude is deliberate facing of dangers and bearing of toils." On this sense fortitude is reckoned a special virtue, because it has a special matter.

Aquinas holds fortitude or courage as being primarily about endurance, not attack:

As stated above (Article 3), and according to the Philosopher, "fortitude is more concerned to allay fear, than to moderate daring." For it is more difficult to allay fear than to moderate daring, since the danger which is the object of daring and fear, tends by its very nature to check daring to increase fear. Now to attack belongs to fortitude in so far as the latter moderates daring, whereas to endure follows the repression of fear. Therefore the principal act of fortitude is endurance, that is to stand immovable in the midst of dangers rather than to attack them.

Western traditions

In both Catholicism and Anglicanism, courage is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. For Thomas Aquinas, Fortitude is the virtue to remove any obstacle that keeps the will from following reason. Thomas Aquinas argues that Courage is a virtue which, along with the Christian virtues in the Summa Theologica, can only be exemplified with the presence of the Christian virtues: faith, hope, and mercy. In order to understand true courage in Christianity it takes someone who displays the virtues of faith, hope, and mercy. Courage is a natural virtue which Saint Augustine did not consider a virtue for Christians. Thomas Aquinas considers courage a virtue through the Christian virtue of mercy. Only through mercy and charity can we call the natural virtue of courage a Christian virtue. Unlike Aristotle, Aquinas’ courage is about endurance, not bravery in battle.

Eastern traditions

The Tao Te Ching contends that courage is derived from love ("慈 loving 故 causes 能 ability 勇 brave"), explaining, "One of courage, with audacity, will die. One of courage, but gentle, spares death. From these two kinds of courage arise harm and benefit."

 

In Hindu tradition, Courage (shauriya) / Bravery (dhairya), and Patience (taamasa) appear as the first two of ten characteristics (lakshana) of dharma in the Hindu Manusmṛti, besides forgiveness (kshama), tolerance (dama), honesty (asthaya), physical restraint (indriya nigraha), cleanliness (shouchya), perceptiveness (dhi), knowledge (vidhya), truthfulness (satya), and control of anger (akrodh). 

Islamic beliefs also present courage and self-control as a key factor in facing the Devil (both within and external); many believe this because of the courage the Prophets of the past displayed (through peace and patience) against people who despised them for their beliefs.

Recent past

Pre-19th century

Thomas Hobbes lists virtues into the categories of moral virtues and virtues of men in his work "Man and Citizen." Hobbes outlines moral virtues as virtues in citizens, that is virtues that without exception are beneficial to society as a whole. These moral virtues are justice (i.e. not violating the law) and charity. Courage as well as prudence and temperance are listed as the virtues of men. By this Hobbes means that these virtues are invested solely in the private good as opposed to the public good of justice and charity. Hobbes describes courage and prudence as a strength of mind as opposed to a goodness of manners. These virtues are always meant to act in the interests of individual while the positive and/or negative effects of society are merely a byproduct. This stems forth from the idea put forth in "Leviathan" that the state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." According to Hobbes courage is a virtue of the individual in order to ensure a better chance of survival while the moral virtues address Hobbes's social contract which civilized men display (in varying degrees) in order to avoid the state of nature. Hobbes also uses the idea of fortitude as an idea of virtue. Fortitude is "to dare" according to Hobbes, but also to "resist stoutly in present dangers." This a more in depth elaboration of Hobbes's concept of courage that is addressed earlier in "Man and Citizen." This idea relates back to Hobbes's idea that self-preservation is the most fundamental aspect of behavior. 

David Hume listed virtues into two categories in his work A Treatise of Human Nature as artificial virtues and natural virtues. Hume noted in the Treatise that courage is a natural virtue. In the Treatise's section Of Pride and Humility, Their Objects and Causes, Hume clearly stated courage is a cause of pride: "Every valuable quality of the mind, whether of the imagination, judgment, memory or disposition; wit, good-sense, learning, courage, justice, integrity; all these are the cause of pride; and their opposites of humility".

Hume also related courage and joy to have positive effects on the soul: "(...) since the soul, when elevated with joy and courage, in a manner seeks opposition, and throws itself with alacrity into any scene of thought or action, where its courage meets with matter to nourish and employ it". Along with courage nourishing and employing, Hume also wrote that courage defends humans in the Treatise: "We easily gain from the liberality of others, but are always in danger of losing by their avarice: Courage defends us, but cowardice lays us open to every attack".

Hume wrote what excessive courage does to a hero's character in the Treatise's section "Of the Other Virtues and Vices": "Accordingly we may observe, that an excessive courage and magnanimity, especially when it displays itself under the frowns of fortune, contributes in a great measure, to the character of a hero, and will render a person the admiration of posterity; at the same time, that it ruins his affairs, and leads him into dangers and difficulties, with which otherwise he would never have been acquainted".

Other understandings of courage that Hume offered can be derived from Hume's views on morals, reason, sentiment, and virtue from his work An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals.

19th century onward

Søren Kierkegaard opposed courage to angst, while Paul Tillich opposed an existential courage to be with non-being, fundamentally equating it with religion:

Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of non-being. It is the act of the individual self in taking the anxiety of non-being upon itself by affirming itself ... in the anxiety of guilt and condemnation. ... every courage to be has openly or covertly a religious root. For religion is the state of being grasped by the power of being itself.

J.R.R. Tolkien identified in his 1936 lecture "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" a "Northern 'theory of courage'" – the heroic or "virtuous pagan" insistence to do the right thing even in the face of certain defeat without promise of reward or salvation:

It is the strength of the northern mythological imagination that it faced this problem, put the monsters in the centre, gave them victory but no honor, and found a potent and terrible solution in naked will and courage. 'As a working theory absolutely impregnable.' So potent is it, that while the older southern imagination has faded forever into literary ornament, the northern has power, as it were, to revive its spirit even in our own times. It can work, as it did even with the goðlauss Viking, without gods: martial heroism as its own end.

Virtuous pagan heroism or courage in this sense is "trusting in your own strength," as observed by Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology:

Men who, turning away in utter disgust and doubt from the heathen faith, placed their reliance on their own strength and virtue. Thus in the Sôlar lioð 17 we read of Vêbogi and Râdey â sik þau trûðu, "in themselves they trusted."

Ernest Hemingway famously defined courage as "grace under pressure."

Winston Churchill stated, "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all others." 

According to Maya Angelou, "Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage." 

In Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche describes master–slave morality, in which a noble man regards himself as a "determiner of values;" one who does not require approval, but passes judgment. Later, in the same text, he lists man's four virtues as "courage, insight, sympathy, and solitude," and goes on to emphasize the importance of courage: "The great epochs of our life are the occasions when we gain the courage to re-baptize our evil qualities as our best qualities."

According to the Swiss psychologist Andreas Dick, courage consists of the following components: 

• put at risk, risk or repugnance, or sacrifice safety or convenience, which may result in death, bodily harm, social condemnation or emotional deprivation;
• a knowledge of wisdom and prudence about what is right and wrong in a given moment;
• Hope and confidence in a happy, meaningful outcome;
• a free will;
• a motive based on love.

Implicit Theories of Courage

Researchers who want to study the concept and the emotion of courage have continued to come across a certain problem. While there are "numerous definitions of courage", they are unable to set "an operational definition of courage on which to base sound explicit theories".  Rate et al. states that because of a lack of an operational definition, the advancement of research in courage is limited. So they conducted studies to try to find "a common structure of courage".  Their goal from their research of implicit theories was to find "people's form and content on the idea of courage". Many researchers created studies on implicit theories by creating a questionnaire that would ask "What is courage?".  In addition, in order to "develop a measurement scale of courage, ten experts in the field of psychology came together to define courage. They defined it as:

the ability to act for a meaningful (noble, good, or practical) cause, despite experiencing the fear associated with perceived threat exceeding the available resources

Also, because courage is a "multi-dimensional construct, it can be "better understood as an exceptional response to specific external conditions or circumstances than as an attribute, disposition, or character trait".  Meaning that rather than being a show of character or an attribute, courage is a response to fear.

 

From their research, they were able to find the "four necessary components of people's notion of courage"..They are:

1. "intentionality/deliberation"
2. "personal fear"
3. "noble/good act" 
4. "and personal risk" 

With these four components, they were able to define courage as:

a willful, intentional act, executed after mindful deliberation, involving objective substantial risk to the actor, primarily motivated to bring about a noble good or worthy end, despite, perhaps, the presence of the emotion of fear.

To further the discussion of the implicit theories of courage, the researchers stated that future research could consider looking into the concept of courage and fear and how individual's might feel fear, overcome it and act, and act despite of it. 

Society and symbolism

Its accompanying animal is the lion. Often, fortitude is depicted as having tamed the ferocious lion. Cf. e.g. the Tarot trump called Strength. It is sometimes seen in the Catholic Church as a depiction of Christ's triumph over sin. It also is a symbol in some cultures as a savior of the people who live in a community with sin and corruption.

Awards

Several awards claim to recognize courageous actions, including:

• The Edelstam Prize awarded for outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for one's beliefs in the defense of Human Rights.
• The Victoria Cross is the highest military award that may be received by members of the British Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of other Commonwealth countries for valour "in the face of the enemy", the civilian equivalent being the George Cross. A total of 1,356 VCs have been awarded to individuals, 13 since World War II.
• The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on members of the United States armed forces who distinguish themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States".
• Distinguished Service Cross (United States) is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, awarded for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force.
• The Carnegie Hero Fund – was established to recognize persons who perform extraordinary acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada, and to provide financial assistance for those disabled and the dependents of those killed saving or attempting to save others.
• The Profile in Courage Award is a private award given to displays of courage similar to those John F. Kennedy described in his book Profiles in Courage. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) who, by acting in accord with their conscience, risked their careers or lives by pursuing a larger vision of the national, state or local interest in opposition to popular opinion or pressure from constituents or other local interests.
• The Civil Courage Prize is a human rights award which is awarded to "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk – rather than military valor." It is awarded by the Trustees of The Train Foundation annually and may be awarded posthumously.
• Courage to Care Award is a plaque with miniature bas-reliefs depicting the backdrop for the rescuers' exceptional deeds during the Nazis' persecution, deportation and murder of millions of Jews.
• The Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage is a prize awarded by Georgia Institute of Technology to individuals who uphold the legacy of former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., whose actions in Atlanta, Georgia and testimony before congress in support of the 1963 Civil Rights Bill legislation set a standard for courage during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s.
• The Param Vir Chakra is the highest military award in India given to those who show the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It can be, and often has been, awarded posthumously.
• The Military Order of Maria Theresa, the highest order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, awarded for "successful military acts of essential impact to a campaign that were undertaken on [an officer's] own initiative, and might have been omitted by an honorable officer without reproach".

Pride

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Superbia: the Latin word for pride

 

Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two antithetical meanings. With a negative connotation pride refers to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris. With a positive connotation, pride refers to a humble and content sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging. 

In Judaism, pride is called the root of all evil. 

Philosophers and social psychologists have noted that pride is a complex secondary emotion which requires the development of a sense of self and the mastery of relevant conceptual distinctions (e.g. that pride is distinct from happiness and joy) through language-based interaction with others. Some social psychologists identify the nonverbal expression of pride as a means of sending a functional, automatically perceived signal of high social status. In contrast, pride could also be defined as a lowly disagreement with the truth. One definition of pride in the former sense comes from St. Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence". A similar definition comes from Meher Baba: "Pride is the specific feeling through which egoism manifests."

Pride is sometimes viewed as corrupt or as a vice, sometimes as proper or as a virtue. While some philosophers such as Aristotle (and George Bernard Shaw) consider pride (but not hubris) a profound virtue, some world religions consider pride's fraudulent form a sin, such as is expressed in Proverbs 11:2 of the Hebrew Bible. When viewed as a virtue, pride in one's abilities is known as virtuous pride, greatness of soul or magnanimity, but when viewed as a vice it is often known to be self-idolatry, sadistic contempt, vanity or vainglory. Pride can also manifest itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride) and ethnicity (ethnic pride).

Etymology

Proud comes from late Old English prut, probably from Old French prud "brave, valiant" (11th century) (which became preux in French), from Late Latin term prodis "useful", which is compared with the Latin prodesse "be of use". The sense of "having a high opinion of oneself", not in French, may reflect the Anglo-Saxons' opinion of the Norman knights who called themselves "proud".

Philosophical views

Ancient Greek philosophy

Aristotle identified pride (megalopsuchia, variously translated as proper pride, greatness of soul and magnanimity) as the crown of the virtues, distinguishing it from vanity, temperance, and humility, thus:

Now the man is thought to be proud who thinks himself worthy of great things, being worthy of them; for he who does so beyond his deserts is a fool, but no virtuous man is foolish or silly. The proud man, then, is the man we have described. For he who is worthy of little and thinks himself worthy of little is temperate, but not proud; for pride implies greatness, as beauty implies a goodsized body, and little people may be neat and well-proportioned but cannot be beautiful.

He concludes then that

Pride, then, seems to be a sort of crown of the virtues; for it makes them more powerful, and it is not found without them. Therefore it is hard to be truly proud; for it is impossible without nobility and goodness of character.

By contrast, Aristotle defined the vice of hubris as follows:

to cause shame to the victim, not in order that anything may happen to you, nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: naive men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater.

Thus, although pride and hubris are often deemed the same thing, for Aristotle and many philosophers hubris is altogether an entirely different thing from pride.

Psychological views

As an emotion

In psychological terms, positive pride is "a pleasant, sometimes exhilarating, emotion that results from a positive self-evaluation". It was added by Tracy et al. to the University of California, Davis, Set of Emotion Expressions (UCDSEE) in 2009, as one of three "self-conscious" emotions known to have recognizable expressions (along with embarrassment and shame).

The term "fiero" was coined by Italian psychologist Isabella Poggi to describe the pride experienced and expressed in the moments following a personal triumph over adversity. Facial expressions and gestures that demonstrate pride can involve a lifting of the chin, smiles, or arms on hips to demonstrate victory. Individuals may implicitly grant status to others based solely on their expressions of pride, even in cases in which they wish to avoid doing so. Indeed, some studies show that the nonverbal expression of pride conveys a message that is automatically perceived by others about a person's high social status in a group.

Behaviorally, pride can also be expressed by adopting an expanded posture in which the head is tilted back and the arms extended out from the body. This postural display is innate as it is shown in congenitally blind individuals who have lacked the opportunity to see it in others.

Positive outcomes

A common understanding of pride is that it results from self-directed satisfaction with meeting the personal goals; for example, Weiner et al. have posited that positive performance outcomes elicit pride in an individual when the event is appraised as having been caused by him alone. Moreover, Oveis et al. conceptualize pride as a display of the strong self that promotes feelings of similarity to strong others, as well as differentiation from weak others. Seen in this light, pride can be conceptualized as a hierarchy-enhancing emotion, as its experience and display helps rid negotiations of conflict. Pride involves exhilarated pleasure and a feeling of accomplishment. It is related to "more positive behaviors and outcomes in the area where the individual is proud" (Weiner, 1985). Pride is generally associated with positive social behaviors such as helping others and outward promotion. Along with hope, it is also often described as an emotion that facilitates performance attainment, as it can help trigger and sustain focused and appetitive effort to prepare for upcoming evaluative events. It may also help enhance the quality and flexibility of the effort expended (Fredrickson, 2001). According to Bagozzi et al., pride can have the positive benefits of enhancing creativity, productivity, and altruism. For instance, it has been found that in terms of school achievement, pride is associated with a higher GPA in low neighborhood socioeconomic environments, whereas in more advantaged neighborhoods, pride is associated with a lower GPA.

In economic psychology

In the field of economic psychology, pride is conceptualized in a spectrum ranging from "proper pride", associated with genuine achievements, and "false pride", which can be maladaptive or even pathological. Lea et al. have examined the role of pride in various economic situations and claim that in all cases pride is involved because economic decisions are not taken in isolation from one another, but are linked together by the selfhood of the people who take them. Understood in this way, pride is an emotional state that works to ensure that people take financial decisions that are in their long-term interests, even when in the short term they would appear irrational.

Sin and self-acceptance

Pride, from the Seven Deadly Sins by Jacob Matham c. 1592.

 

Exaggerated self-esteem is called "pride". Classical Christian theology views pride as being the result of high self-esteem, and thus high self-esteem was viewed as the primary human problem, but beginning in the 20th century, "humanistic psychology" diagnosed the primary human problem as low self-esteem stemming from a lack of belief in one's "true worth". Carl Rogers observed that most people "regard themselves as worthless and unlovable." Thus, they lack self-esteem.

Terry Cooper conceptualized in 2003 excessive pride (along with low self-esteem) as an important paradigm in describing the human condition. He examines and compares the Augustinian-Niebuhrian conviction that pride is primary, the feminist concept of pride as being absent in the experience of women, the humanistic psychology position that pride does not adequately account for anyone's experience, and the humanistic psychology idea that if pride emerges, it is always a false front designed to protect an undervalued self.

He considers that the work of certain neo-Freudian psychoanalysts, namely Karen Horney, offers promise in dealing with what he calls a "deadlock between the overvalued and undervalued self" (Cooper, 112–3). Cooper refers to their work in describing the connection between religious and psychological pride as well as sin to describe how a neurotic pride system underlies an appearance of self-contempt and low self-esteem:

The "idealized self," the "tyranny of the should," the "pride system" and the nature of self-hate all point toward the intertwined relationship between neurotic pride and self-contempt. Understanding how a neurotic pride system underlies an appearance of self-contempt and low self-esteem. (Cooper, 112–3).

Thus, hubris, which is an exaggerated form of self-esteem, is sometimes actually a lie used to cover the lack of self-esteem the committer of pride feels deeply down.

In the King James Bible, those people exhibiting excess pride are labeled with the somewhat archaic term, "Haughty".

Hubris and group pride

Hubris itself is associated with more intra-individual negative outcomes and is commonly related to expressions of aggression and hostility (Tangney, 1999). As one might expect, Hubris is not necessarily associated with high self-esteem but with highly fluctuating or variable self-esteem. Excessive feelings of hubris have a tendency to create conflict and sometimes terminating close relationships, which has led it to be understood as one of the few emotions with no clear positive or adaptive functions (Rhodwalt, et al.).

Several studies by UC Davis psychologist Cynthia Picket about group pride, have shown that groups that boast, gloat or denigrate others tend to become a group with low social status or to be vulnerable to threats from other groups. Suggesting that "hubristic, pompous displays of group pride might actually be a sign of group insecurity as opposed to a sign of strength," she states that those that express pride by being filled with humility whilst focusing on members' efforts and hard work tend to achieve high social standing in both the adult public and personal eyes.

National

The Father and Mother by Boardman Robinson depicting War as the offspring of Greed and Pride.

Germany

In Germany, "national pride" ("Nationalstolz") is often associated with the former Nazi regime. Strong displays of national pride are therefore considered poor taste by many Germans. There is an ongoing public debate about the issue of German patriotism. The World Cup in 2006, held in Germany, saw a wave of patriotism sweep the country in a manner not seen for many years. Although many were hesitant to show such blatant support as the hanging of the national flag from windows, as the team progressed through the tournament, so too did the level of support across the nation. By the time the semi-final against Italy came around, the level of national pride and unity was at its highest throughout the tournament, and the hosting of the World Cup is seen to have been a great success for Germany as a nation. After the World Cup, however, the subject of patriotism became again as difficult as it had been before.

Ethnic

Asian

Asian pride in modern slang refers mostly to those of East Asian descent, though it can include anyone of Asian descent. Asian pride was originally fragmented, as Asian nations have had long conflicts with each other, examples are the old Japanese and Chinese religious beliefs of their individual superiority. Asian pride emerged prominently during European colonialism. At one time, Europeans controlled 85% of the world's land through colonialism, resulting in anti-Western feelings among Asian nations. Today, some Asians still look upon European involvement in their affairs with suspicion. In contrast, Asian empires are prominent and are proudly remembered by adherents to Asian Pride. 

There is an emerging discourse of Chinese pride which unfolds complex histories and maps of privileges and empowerments. In a deeper sense, it is a strategic positioning, aligned with approaches such as "Asia as method", to invite more diverse resistances in language, culture, and practices, in challenging colonial, imperial dominations, and being critical of Eurocentric epistemologies. In more specific cases, it examines the Sinophone circulations of power relations connecting the transnational to the local, for example, a particular set of Chinese-Canadian relations between China's increasing industrial materiality and output in which pride becomes an expansionist reach and mobilization of capital, Canada's active interests in tapping into Asian and Chinese labours, markets, and industrial productions, and the intersected cultural politics of 'Chinese-ness' in an East Pacific British Columbia city where 'Chinese' has been tagged as a majority-minority.

Black

Black pride is a slogan used primarily in the United States to raise awareness for a black racial identity. The slogan has been used by African Americans of sub-Saharan African origin to denote a feeling of self-confidence, self-respect, celebrating one's heritage, and being proud of one's personal worth.

White

White pride is a slogan used primarily in the United States for a white race identity.

Mad Pride

Bed Push at Mad Pride parade in Cologne, Germany, in 2016

 

Mad pride refers to a worldwide movement and philosophy that individuals with mental illnesses should be proud of their 'mad' identity. Mad Pride advocates mutual support and rallies in support of rights for people with mental illness. The Mad Pride movement aims to reclaim the word mad as a self-descriptor.

LGBT

Pride parade, Düsseldorf 2017

 

Gay pride refers to a worldwide movement and philosophy asserting that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT pride advocates work for equal "rights and benefits" for LGBT people. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that sexual diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered.

The word pride is used in this case an antonym for shame. Pride in this sense is an affirmation of one's self and the community as a whole. The modern "gay pride" movement began after the Stonewall riots of the late 1960s. In June 1970, the first pride parade in the United States commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots—the nearly week-long uprising between New York City youth and police officers following a raid of Stonewall Inn.

Vanity

Detail of "Pride" in The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things by Hieronymus Bosch

 

In conventional parlance, vanity sometimes is used in a positive sense to refer to a rational concern for one's personal appearance, attractiveness and dress and is thus not the same as pride. However, it also refers to an excessive or irrational belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness in the eyes of others and may in so far be compared to pride. The term Vanity originates from the Latin word vanitas meaning emptiness, untruthfulness, futility, foolishness and empty pride. Here empty pride means a fake pride, in the sense of vainglory, unjustified by one's own achievements and actions, but sought by pretense and appeals to superficial characteristics. 

In many religions, vanity is considered a form of self-idolatry, in which one rejects God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes divorced from the graces of God. The stories of Lucifer and Narcissus (who gave us the term narcissism), and others, attend to a pernicious aspect of vanity. In Western art, vanity was often symbolized by a peacock, and in Biblical terms, by the Whore of Babylon. During the Renaissance, vanity was invariably represented as a naked woman, sometimes seated or reclining on a couch. She attends to her hair with comb and mirror. The mirror is sometimes held by a demon or a putto. Other symbols of vanity include jewels, gold coins, a purse, and often by the figure of death himself. 

"All Is Vanity" by C. Allan Gilbert, evoking the inevitable decay of life and beauty toward death

Often we find an inscription on a scroll that reads Omnia Vanitas ("All is Vanity"), a quote from the Latin translation of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Although that phrase, itself depicted in a type of still life, vanitas, originally referred not to obsession with one's appearance, but to the ultimate fruitlessness of man's efforts in this world, the phrase summarizes the complete preoccupation of the subject of the picture. 

"The artist invites us to pay lip-service to condemning her", writes Edwin Mullins, "while offering us full permission to drool over her. She admires herself in the glass, while we treat the picture that purports to incriminate her as another kind of glass—a window—through which we peer and secretly desire her." The theme of the recumbent woman often merged artistically with the non-allegorical one of a reclining Venus.

In his table of the seven deadly sins, Hieronymus Bosch depicts a bourgeois woman admiring herself in a mirror held up by a devil. Behind her is an open jewelry box. A painting attributed to Nicolas Tournier, which hangs in the Ashmolean Museum, is An Allegory of Justice and Vanity. A young woman holds a balance, symbolizing justice; she does not look at the mirror or the skull on the table before her. Vermeer's famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring is sometimes believed to depict the sin of vanity, as the young girl has adorned herself before a glass without further positive allegorical attributes. All is Vanity, by Charles Allan Gilbert (1873–1929), carries on this theme. An optical illusion, the painting depicts what appears to be a large grinning skull. Upon closer examination, it reveals itself to be a young woman gazing at her reflection in the mirror. Such artistic works served to warn viewers of the ephemeral nature of youthful beauty, as well as the brevity of human life and the inevitability of death.