What is it about?
Young people aged 10 and 15 were asked to name their hero and to describe them and to indicate in which domain they were heroic: such as music film, sports, family and so on. The responses of girls and boys of each age in each country were compared and significant differences were found.
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Why is it important?
There were striking differences between boys and girls and between young people of different ages. The results are important in terms of understanding identity formation in each country. Of interest is that Spanish young people tended to chose male figures much more than in the French sample.
Perspectives
As an intercultural exercise this paper was rewarding to the authors. Of particular interest are the implications of the data for the idea of social capital and the importance of community. It is also noteworthy how individual teachers can influence hero choice - though that emerges in other studies.
Dr Hugh Gash
Dublin City University
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This page is a summary of: Young People's Heroes in France and Spain, The Spanish Journal of Psychology, May 2009, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1138741600001657.
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