The Hero in the Preferred Childhood Stories of College Men

Benedict (4), like many social anthropologists, has described ways in which myths and stories, said to be popular, reflect cultural role expectancies. She sees these as differing, somewhat, from one culture to another. Rank (12), dealing with hero-myths assumed to be popular in various countries and periods, emphasizes their similarities rather than their cultural idiosyncrasies. Perhaps because, as a psychoanalyst, he was less attentive than Benedict to cultural differences, Rank concludes that all these tales, regardless of their origin, describe the fulfillment of universal human wishes.

In the present paper, preferred childhood stories of some American college men will be examined for possible reflections of the cultural role expectancies, mentioned by Benedict, and for signs of the wish-fulfilling features discussed by Rank. They have been selected and analyzed in such a way as to facilitate more empirically-based speculations than those of Benedict and Rank in several ways. First, these stories were chosen for study as “popular” stories, on the basis of the actual, stated preferences of particular individuals, rather than on the basis of hearsay. Second, they are stories of childhood rather than stories for adults and, therefore, comparatively simple in plot and character development. In their greater simplicity they should more readily reveal the presence of reflected role-expectancies or implied wish-fulfillments. Third, information was obtained from the subjects about features of the stories which they had considered to be appealing. While not decisive in establishing a story's “true” appeal, this information nevertheless serves the useful function of supplementing what might otherwise