Superheroes: A Psychological View
After taking a quick glance of Dr. Robin Rosenberg’s book, The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration, I was very intrigued with the information he provided over the subject of superheroes and positive psychology. In his book, Rosenberg assessed the superheroes on several topics, such as positive subjective experiences, that are in relation to positive psychology to find out whether superheroes were actually super people who lived a life worth living. He touches on the fact that most of the superheroes are usually brooding and compulsive, while the villains, such as Loki from the Thor comics, are the ones enjoying themselves. Looking at most of these heroes, even though they find meaning in life by helping protect the world, they rarely enjoy the pleasures of life or actually have a relationship with someone they care for. Rosenberg also looks into the moral attributes and character strengths of most superheroes that cause these heroes to be great role models in a society were various scandals render our sports heroes and government officials no longer able to feel the role. Superheroes usually have traits that positive psychologists have studied but not all the virtues. They still have character flaws that make them more human, more relatable. After touching on a couple of different elements of positive psychology, Rosenberg concluded that superheroes were indeed super people, but were incomplete without the little pleasures of life. He tops it off with one of the lessons of positive psychology, which is that no one can experience all the good things in life but will find the find certain aspects of life to keep them looking on the bright side.
The ideas the Dr. Rosenberg presented were never something that I have ever put into perspective. Usually when I thought about superheroes, I always began to imagine myself in their lives living an exciting and dangerous life. The fact that a good majority of heroes don’t really enjoy life to its fullest, such as the small pleasures is not really the most enjoyable reality check. But I can find a few heroes who definitely do not fall under this list, such as the “billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” Tony Stark, since he is always living a great life and enjoying a personal life. But on the case of other heroes, such as Captain America, who has his strong sense of duty and rarely enjoys life’s great offerings. Then there is also the big green Hulk that we all love and glorify. Bruce Banner changing into the Hulk is triggered by his anger, and as it was shown in The Avengers where Banner says, “That’s my secret Captain. I’m always angry” proves that he isn't the happiest guy in the world. Regardless of all this, I somehow find the lure of the life of a hero to still be irresistible.
Rosenberg, Robin S. "Positive Psychology of Superheroes." The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration. Dallas: BenBella, 2008. 5-19. Print.