Leap of Faith: Superpower Fantasies and the Willingness to Help

Superpower fantasies may seem frivolous but may tap into a deeply human drive to push boundaries and act prosocial.

jumping off a building

When I was a kid, I leaped off the second story of a building.

The building belonged to my English teacher, where I went for afternoon lessons. The construction crew, adding a second story to the back of her home, had left for the day. Back then, construction zones didn’t have the strict fencing they do today. People knew not to mess with a property under construction.

While waiting for our class to start, my friend and I got an idea. We had been forbidden from venturing into the construction zone, but with no adults around, we did what kids do: venture into the construction zone.

Now, by second story I mean the level just above the ground floor. In Cyprus, people call that the first floor (“protos orofos”), but etymologically, it’s more like they regard it as the first roof. In America, people call the ground-level floor the first floor, and thus the first roof becomes the second story.

Cultural and semantic context aside, my friend and I climbed an unfinished concrete staircase (no railing), stepped onto a debris-covered floor (bricks, cement powder, planks with nails sticking out), and approached the edge.

Below the edge lay a mound of sand, I’m guessing three-four feet high. That mound played an integral role in our scheme. My pal and I were smart enough to know the sand heap would soften our landing, but not smart enough to imagine a thousand things that could go wrong—like, for example, hitting our heads on the way down.

Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jamie Sommers (Lindsey Wagner), TV heroes, had shown me how to leap with superhuman strength. The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman didn’t start out bionic. After suffering life-threatening injuries, an Intelligence agency replaced their damaged organs with bionic parts, giving them superhuman abilities. Running, jumping, hearing—it didn’t matter. We saw them defy odds on TV, and for us, that was proof enough that we could do it too.

As long as there was that mound of sand to soften the landing.

I summoned the bionic jump sound effect in my mind.

Then I jumped.

superpowers, adults, and pro-sociality

Many superpower shows target children or teenagers — so much that Wikipedia hosts a category for this.¹^⁠ Yet, at least as of today, this list contains neither The Six Million Dollar Man nor The Bionic Woman.

Though the comics for these two shows may have targeted younger audiences, the TV series themselves aimed at broader demographics.

Modern superhero content demonstrates that the allure of superpowers doesn’t evaporate at the end of childhood. Films like The Avengers explore themes of collective responsibility, ethical dilemmas, and the sacrifices required when wielding immense power, often in the face of global or cosmic threats. In contrast, The Boys (a TV series) offers a darker reflection on the corruption and abuse of power, showing how superhuman abilities can be commodified and used for personal gain, rather than public good. Superpower fantasy worlds for adults tackle complex values and relationships, moving beyond simple escapism.

And the appeal of superpowers to all ages may not all be simply entertainment. Research suggests that even brief, virtual experiences of superhuman abilities can inspire real-world prosocial behavior.

In a Stanford study, participants were randomly assigned to one of two virtual reality scenarios. In one scenario, each participant experienced flying (much like Superman), while in the other, each participant rode in a helicopter. Both groups were tasked with helping a child receive medication as quickly as possible. Afterward, the researchers debriefed each participant, during which the interviewer pretended to accidentally spill a container of pens. Results showed that participants who had experienced superpower flying were significantly more likely to help the interviewer gather the spilled pens (Rosenberg et al., 2013).

In a more recent study (Van Tongeren et al., 2018), participants completed what they believed was their main task in a room with either a subtle poster of Superman or a neutral image of a bicycle. The researchers had designed that task to take less time than the participants had signed up for. The participants were then presented with an opportunity to help with a tedious, unrelated task for which they would earn no additional credit. Those who had been exposed to the Superman poster were significantly more likely to offer assistance than those in the control group (bicycle). Think about that! Even a small visual cue, such as a superhero image, can prompt people to engage in prosocial behavior.

These findings suggest that embodying superpowers, or even just getting exposed to a superhero image, can have a positive effect on our real-world behavior.^⁠²

Wow! Leaping off that building as a child—the Six Million Dollar Man sound effects ringing in my ears—I may have tapped into something deeply human: the urge to push boundaries and feel invincible. Perhaps such an urge isn’t as reckless as it might appear. This drive may be ingrained in the human psyche, through culture or evolution, precisely because it encourages prosocial behavior.

Rosenberg, Robin S., et al. "Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior." PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 1, 30 Jan. 2013, p. e55003. Gale Academic OneFile, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055003.

ThatSFXguy. “Six Million Dollar Man sound effects clean.” YouTube, Nov 29, 2013. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OyIBuF73PQ.

Van Tongeren, Daryl R., et al. “Heroic Helping: The Effects of Priming Superhero Images on Prosociality.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, 2018, p. 2243, doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02243.

Yousefi, M., et al. “Advancing Prosociality in Extended Reality: Systematic Review of the Use of Embodied Virtual Agents to Trigger Prosocial Behaviour in Extended Reality.” Frontiers in Virtual Reality, vol. 5, 2024, p. 1386460, doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2024.1386460.

1. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Teen_superhero_television_series

2. Other studies showed ancillary results. A 2024 systematic review highlighted that embodying powerful avatars in extended reality environments could trigger positive social behaviors, improving confidence and reducing feelings of vulnerability in extended reality contexts (Yousefi et al., 2024).