Hero-making as a defense against the anxiety of responsibility and risk: A case study of US Airways Flight 1549
Hero-making as a defense against the anxiety of responsibility and risk: A case study of US Airways Flight 1549
By examining US Airways Flight 1549’s glider-like landing on New YorkCity’s Hudson River on 15 January 2009, this article contributes to a deeperunderstanding of the psycho- and socio-analytic aspects of American culture.Using system psychodynamics as a conceptual framework, the essayuses this case study to demonstrate how individual psychology, groupdynamics, and systemic influences intertwined to tap a collective societalneed for a traditional male hero to salve the cultural disillusionment createdby corporate scandals, executive greed, job loss, and terrorist attacks in post-9/11 America. Understanding how this phenomenon occurred helps us grapplewith psycho-cultural factors that favour searching for a saviour overrecognising collective responsibilities that encourage more collaborativeapproaches to crisis decision making.
system psychodynamics, crisis decision making, heroes
59-78
Fraher, Amy L.
5c2ad136-717b-43b1-be85-c7a970f85116
1 January 2011
Fraher, Amy L.
5c2ad136-717b-43b1-be85-c7a970f85116
Fraher, Amy L.
(2011)
Hero-making as a defense against the anxiety of responsibility and risk: A case study of US Airways Flight 1549.
Organisational & Social Dynamics, 11 (1), .
Abstract
By examining US Airways Flight 1549’s glider-like landing on New YorkCity’s Hudson River on 15 January 2009, this article contributes to a deeperunderstanding of the psycho- and socio-analytic aspects of American culture.Using system psychodynamics as a conceptual framework, the essayuses this case study to demonstrate how individual psychology, groupdynamics, and systemic influences intertwined to tap a collective societalneed for a traditional male hero to salve the cultural disillusionment createdby corporate scandals, executive greed, job loss, and terrorist attacks in post-9/11 America. Understanding how this phenomenon occurred helps us grapplewith psycho-cultural factors that favour searching for a saviour overrecognising collective responsibilities that encourage more collaborativeapproaches to crisis decision making.
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Published date: 1 January 2011
Keywords:
system psychodynamics, crisis decision making, heroes
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Local EPrints ID: 427845
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/427845
ISSN: 1474-2780
PURE UUID: b1894351-2fbc-48c7-b86b-13129cc08818
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Date deposited: 30 Jan 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 00:00
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Author:
Amy L. Fraher
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