When you picture someone demonstrating courage, what do you see? A firefighter running into a burning

building to save a child? A protester risking her safety to stand up to injustice? Or a middle schooler

swallowing his stage fright to try out for a school play? When we think of courage, we often envision

dramatic high-stakes moments, but courage comes

into play not only in extraordinary situations, but in everyday life. Today we're going to talk to a

psychologist about what it means to act courageously. What do all courageous actions physical,

moral, and psychological have in common? Does courage have

to involve overcoming fear? Is courage a personality trait, a state of mind, or behavior

anyone can choose in the moment? How do our cultural and social viewpoints shape what we see

as courage? And is it possible to practice bravery and become more

courageous? Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American

Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life.

I'm Kim Mills. My guest today is Dr. Cynthia Puri, a professor of

psychology at Clemson University. She studies how and why people act courageously and what we

think about other people's courage. Her research points to the importance of considering both

situational and individual differences

to understand how courage works in organizations, in the performing arts, in healthcare,

and in interpersonal and civic contexts.

She has published dozens of peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters and was co-editor

of the APA book, The Psychology of Courage, Modern Research on an Ancient Virtue.

Dr. Purdy, thank you for joining me today.

Hi, Kim. Thank you so much for asking me to be here today. I'm excited to talk to your listeners

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