Merely Bystanders: The Psychology of Courage and Inaction
Catherine Sanderson is the Poler Family Professor and former Chair of Psychology at Amherst College and is often cited as the school’s most popular professor. Her research has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. She has published over 25 journal articles in addition to three college textbooks. In 2012, she was named one of the country’s “Top 300 Professors” by the Princeton Review.
Overview
The Psychology of Courage
Why do good people so often do nothing when a seemingly small action could make a big difference? A pioneering social psychologist, Catherine Sanderson, explains why moral courage is so rare, and reveals how it can be triggered or trained. We are bombarded every day by reports of bad behavior, from sexual harassment to political corruption and bullying belligerence. It’s tempting to blame evil acts on evil people, but that leaves the rest us off the hook. Silence, after all, can perpetuate cruelty. This class draws on the latest developments in psychology and neuroscience to tackle an urgent question: Why do so many of us fail to intervene when we’re needed—and what would it take to make us step up?
Learn More About The Psychology Of Taking Action
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