Mattel has announced that the newest addition to their "Inspiring Women Series" is Eleanor Roosevelt. She joins Maya Angelou, Florence Nightingale and Sally Ride among others. The series began in 2018 as part of Mattel's #MoreRoleModels campaign. (2018)
Interesting.
I once had a discussion about role models with my brother-in-law who said: "Maybe Tiger Woods doesn't want to be a role model." My reply: "He may not want to be a role model, but the first time someone looks at you and says - 'I want to be just like you when I grow up' - shame on you if that doesn't make you want to clean up your act."
Because the truth is people don't get to choose to be role models. It's the followers who do the choosing.
Research shows that we are more likely to engage in "prosocial behavior" if we think lots of others are doing so too. And that's where role models and public messaging come in.
If we share stories about people not wearing masks and ignoring rules prohibiting large gatherings, then are we unintentionally encouraging others to do the wrong thing as well?
Wouldn't it be more effective to highlight how people are behaving safely instead? (Tingley, 2020)
What if we share this photo? Could it make a difference?
Can you think of some examples where role models have inspired people to do better? Do you think a specific MBTI preference would be more influenced by role models than others? What about dolls? Do they matter? Why?
(2018, March 6) Inspiring Women. barbiefandom.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://barbie.fandom.com/wiki/Inspiring_Women#:~:text=The%20Inspiring%20Women%20doll%20line,to%20the%20women%20they%20honor.
Tingley, K. (2020, December 10) We Know How to Curb the Pandemic. How Do We Make People Listen? nytimes.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/10/magazine/covid-research-behavior-.html
