Sitting across from Dr. Martin Seligman in January 2024, I was confronted with a question I’d never fully examined as a police officer. The founder of positive psychology asked: “What is the psychological theory of an individual running into gunfire when everyone else is running away?”

I offered the reflexive answers from lived experience—duty, honor, service, commitment. These words felt true, but were not science. Dr. Seligman pressed: “But what is the theory?” In that moment, we realized there wasn’t one. That conversation became the genesis of what I now call Courageous Optimism.

When gunfire erupts, when buildings collapse, when violence threatens innocent lives, our survival instinct screams at us to run. This response is hardwired, evolutionary. Yet some individuals override this programming and move in the opposite direction. They transform instinct into purposeful action. Understanding this transformation requires examining three psychological forces: self-determination, self-efficacy, and courage.

Self-determination provides the “why” of heroic action. It’s the intrinsic motivation that drives someone to choose a profession where sacrifice isn’t hypothetical but probable. It’s about agency—the deep sense that this choice reflects who you truly are. It’s about competence—knowing you can make a meaningful difference. And it’s about relatedness—feeling connected to a community worth serving. The Hebrew word “Hineini” (“Here I am. Send Me”) captures the response Isaiah gave to God and the answer first responders give when called to serve. Rabbi Hillel’s ancient question echoes through millennia: “If not me, then who?” Service and sacrifice is not a burden; it’s an expression of identity and purpose.

Identity alone doesn’t stop bullets or save lives. This is where self-efficacy becomes crucial. Bandura defined self-efficacy as belief in one’s capability to execute the actions required to manage a situation. For first responders, self-efficacy is built through training, tools, repetition, and experience. It’s the muscle memory that takes over when conscious thought becomes too slow. If self-determination is the why, self-efficacy is the how.

Yet even with clear purpose and proven capability, fear remains. This is where courage enters—not as the absence of fear, but as action despite it. Courage encompasses bravery, perseverance, honesty, and zest—interwoven threads that allow someone to move forward when every instinct screams retreat.

Here’s where optimism becomes the critical binding force. Optimism isn’t blind positivity. It’s a sophisticated cognitive framework that allows someone to see possibility, to envision positive outcomes even in dire circumstances. Consider the metaphor of the reversible cape, adapted from James Pawelski’s work.

Imagine a police officer at the threshold of danger, wearing a cape. On one side, the cape is red—representing the fight against evil, violence, and injustice. This perspective is necessary and real. But if an officer sees the world only through this lens, they become consumed by what they’re fighting against. They develop a hypervigilant, pessimistic primal worldview where danger lurks everywhere. This path leads to burnout and cynicism.

The other side is green—representing the promotion of good, the creation of safety, and the possibility of positive outcomes. Writing a traffic ticket becomes prevention of a future crash. Arresting a domestic violence offender moves the victim one step closer to safety. Even using deadly force can be reframed from “killing a person” to “eliminating a threat so innocent people can survive.”

The genius of the reversible cape is that it’s not an either/or choice. The most effective first responders learn to flip the cape as needed. They acknowledge evil while working toward good. They confront darkness while maintaining hope. This cognitive flexibility allows optimism to fuel courage rather than contradict it. It’s not optimism about the present danger, but optimism about the outcome from action.

There is an antithesis: pessimistic cowardice. Pessimistic cowardice isn’t simply fear or reasonable caution. It’s the toxic combination of believing you cannot succeed, believing the situation is hopeless, and allowing those beliefs to paralyze action. It’s seeing only the red cape perspective—violence is inevitable, danger is insurmountable, intervention is futile—and using that dark vision as justification for inaction.

Optimism Essential Reads

Courageous Optimism isn’t unique to law enforcement. We saw it on 9/11 in the passengers of Flight 93 who charged the cockpit, and in Welles Crowther, who guided people to safety in the World Trade Center before it collapsed. We saw it in the veteran who used his truck to transport Las Vegas shooting victims under ongoing fire, and in the Kansas City Chiefs fans who tackled a gunman during a Super Bowl parade. These “upstanders” possess the same psychological architecture: determination to act, confidence in their ability to help, courage to face danger, and optimism that their actions will create a better outcome.

If we can measure and cultivate this combination of traits, we could transform how we recruit and train first responders. We could identify candidates who possess the helper identity while building the training that creates self-efficacy. We could teach the reversible cape framework explicitly, helping officers maintain psychological flexibility throughout their careers.

Perhaps the most powerful implication extends beyond professional application. Courageous Optimism reveals something fundamental about human potential—that heroism isn’t a rare genetic anomaly or mystical calling. It’s a learnable synthesis of purpose, capability, and hope.

In a world that often feels dominated by cynicism and retreat, Courageous Optimism offers a different path. It acknowledges the reality of evil and danger without surrendering to despair. It recognizes fear without being controlled by it. It sees the red cape’s truth while choosing the green cape’s possibility. And in that choice—to run toward danger when others are running away—we find not just the theory of heroism, but its practice. Now the question “If not me, then who?” is no longer a burden. It’s an invitation to become who we’re capable of being: people who believe their courage, will, and capabilities can change outcomes, and who act on that belief even when everything in our biology tells us to run the other way. Welcome to Courageous Optimism.

References

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.

Longman, J. (2002). Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back. HarperCollins.

NY Post. (2024). Kansas City Chiefs fans tackle Super Bowl Parade gunman.