The Carnegie Hero Fund was established to recognize persons who perform acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada, and to provide
financial assistance for those disabled and the dependants of those killed helping others. Established in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie, the commission has
recognized more than 8,000 acts of heroism since its founding. In addition to a medal, awardees receive $2,500.
You are to write a 1-2 page paper on heroic helping. To complete the assignment, follow these steps:
Visit the website:
Familiarize yourself with the website by visiting several links, including:
Carnegie Medal Awardees (awarded 2006)
the Audio or Video features
Choose a hero (excluding the year 2006!) from the search archives by using the “Search Awardees” feature
Utilizing course material from chapter 9 of the textbook and lecture, write a 1 to 2 page paper that describes at least 2 social psychological factors which
may have contributed to the heroic act of helping behavior.
Please address the following in your paper:
Briefly describe the circumstances of the heroic act.
Discuss possible reasons why the hero helped. Why did the hero assume responsibility for helping? What were the costs and benefits of helping for the hero?
Do you believe the hero’s behavior was altruistic? Explain