Moral Heroes Look Up and to the Right

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
Jeremy A Frimer, Lisa Sinclair

Abstract

Portraits of moral heroes often portray the hero gazing up and to the viewer's right in part because ideologically minded followers select and propagate these images of their leaders. Study 1 found that the gaze direction of portraits of moral heroes (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr.) tend to show the hero looking up-and-right more often than chance would predict, and more often than portraits of celebrities (e.g., Elvis Presley) do. In Studies 2 and 3, we asked participants to play the role of an ideologically motivated follower, and select an image of their leader to promote the cause. Participants preferentially selected the up-and-right version. In Study 4, we found that conceptual metaphors linking directionality to personal virtues of warmth, pride, and future-mindedness helped explain why the up-and-right posture looks most heroic. Followers play an active role in advancing social causes by portraying their leaders as moral heroes.

References

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Dec 26, 2006·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Susan T FiskePeter Glick
Nov 7, 2007·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Lawrence J Walker, Jeremy A Frimer
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Jun 29, 2014·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Jeremy A FrimerNicola K Schaefer
May 13, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Jeremy A FrimerHarrison Oakes

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Citations

Sep 14, 2018·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Xiao-Fei YangMary Helen Immordino-Yang
Apr 4, 2020·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Ying Lin, Daphna Oyserman
Feb 8, 2021·HEC Forum : an Interdisciplinary Journal on Hospitals' Ethical and Legal Issues·Patrick D Hopkins

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