The Power of Ideals

How do people sustain moral commitment across decades, through hardship and joy? In Some Do Care, William Damon and Anne Colby study moral exemplars whose lives reveal how ethical devotion develops, transforms, and endures. Their core argument is that enduring moral leadership arises from a deep integration of identity, purpose, and community—where selfhood and morality fuse into one.

Using 23 intensive life histories—ranging from civil-rights activists like Virginia Durr to missionaries like Suzie Valadez—the authors explore what distinguishes moral exemplars from ordinary people. They find that moral maturity isn’t based on abstract moral reasoning (as Kohlberg proposed) but on lived patterns of transformation: sustained engagement, reciprocal relationships, realistic humility, and purpose anchored in both spirituality and pragmatic ideals.

Method: studying morality in life context

To uncover these dynamics, Damon and Colby employ the assisted autobiography method, combining structured interviews with iterative feedback from participants. Rather than relying on laboratory tasks, they treat exemplars as co‑investigators who interpret their own lives. This idiographic method reveals how moral meanings evolve through mentorship, family experiences, suffering, and social context. Their sampling process used twenty-two nominators from diverse backgrounds to avoid ideological bias, ensuring that “moral commitment” was defined broadly but rigorously.

From that process emerged five criteria for recognizing moral exemplars: sustained commitment, consistency between means and ends, willingness to risk self‑interest, inspirational influence, and realistic humility. These criteria balance moral conviction with psychological health, excluding fanatics and hypocrites. The research thus provides a defensible, comparative framework for studying lived morality across ideologies.

What sustains moral dedication

Exemplars show surprising positivity and certainty. They rarely describe dramatic internal conflict or grand heroism; instead, they speak of moral necessity: “I had to do it.” Civil-rights activist Virginia Durr and humanitarian Suzie Valadez reflect this motive—they act without framing themselves as courageous, but as compelled by rightness. This moral clarity allows them to manage fear and risk through meaning and volition. Once the “Rubicon” decision is crossed, attention moves from doubt to implementation.

Psychological mechanisms like flow and learned optimism reinforce this stability. Damon and Colby borrow Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow to explain how immersion in meaningful work sustains energy despite sacrifice. Many exemplars report joy—Mother Waddles turns catastrophe into humor, Suzie treats hardship as divine opportunity. Even secular reformers like Cabell Brand apply an optimistic attribution style: problems are temporary, solvable challenges, not permanent defeats.

Faith, conviction, and meaning

Roughly four-fifths of participants attribute their strength to religious faith, though others anchor commitment in secular humanism or rights‑based reasoning. Pentecostal, Quaker, Catholic, Buddhist, and Jewish traditions appear, each offering moral vocabulary and social networks that make sacrifice sustainable. Even those without religious belief—like Virginia Durr—find grounding in moral logic and community solidarity. The common thread is a meaning system that explains suffering and legitimizes moral necessity.

Transformation and social scaffolding

Exemplar development unfolds through goal transformation—a gradual reorganization of aims in social interaction. People begin with concrete concerns, like Sakharov opposing nuclear testing or Valadez teaching Bible lessons, but social feedback and collective action expand those goals into broader moral projects. Damon and Colby use the metaphor of scaffolding to describe how relational guidance—through friends, mentors, and collaborators—helps internalize new purposes. Goal transformation can result from both positive mentorship and negative resistance: opposition, persecution, or injustice often deepen moral resolve.

From self and group to reciprocity

Leadership in these lives is reciprocal. Exemplars don’t command passively; they co‑create movements. In Sakharov’s committees or Brand’s TAP initiatives, followers shape tactics as much as leaders do. This reciprocal influence is vital: it preserves humility, prevents rigidity, and ensures that personal moral identities remain open to growth. Such relationships demonstrate how moral autonomy and social influence interdependently evolve.

Unity of self and morality

Ultimately, lifelong moral action culminates in unity of self and morality, where identity and ethical purpose fuse. Cabell Brand expresses it clearly: “Who I am is what I’m able to do.” This unity dissolves the usual conflict between self-interest and principle. For these exemplars, morality isn’t a rule but a definition of self; thus, action feels nonoptional. Over years of reflection, habit, and community accountability, their character channels moral judgment automatically.

(In short: Damon and Colby argue that moral exemplars don't emerge fully formed. They evolve through reciprocal influence, faith or secular conviction, positive engagement, and developmental scaffolding—until moral action becomes identity itself. The lesson for you is practical: moral excellence can be cultivated, sustained, and modeled through daily reflection, deliberate communities, and an integrated sense of purpose.)

Damon and Colby begin by tackling an overlooked challenge—how to identify moral exemplars without political or ideological bias. Their approach treats moral excellence as a comprehensive and universal phenomenon, not as the partisan admiration of heroes. Through twenty-two diverse nominators, they establish five criteria that filter real moral integrity from fanaticism or self-serving altruism.

The Five Criteria

• Sustained commitment: dedication to moral ideals over long periods.
• Consistency of means and ends: ensuring that methods mirror moral purpose.
• Willingness to risk self‑interest: accepting sacrifices for principle.
• Inspirational influence: the ability to motivate others.
• Realistic humility: confidence without ego or self-aggrandizement.

Through these criteria, Damon and Colby deliberately include a range of professions—civil-rights activists, charity organizers, ethical business leaders—and exclude zealotry or hypocrisy. For example, Suzie Valadez’s ministry to children in Juárez reflects humility and sustained service, not self-display. Virginia Durr’s civil-rights advocacy shows willingness to sacrifice social standing without losing realism.

A Diverse Sample

The final sample combines ten men and thirteen women from different races, religions, and vocations. Five were studied in extra depth, chosen for rich narrative detail. This diversity underscores that moral commitment can manifest through any work—education, activism, business, or ministry—provided it embodies continuous integrity.

These methodological foundations remind you that moral studies require transparent criteria and broad perspectives. Without such rigor, you risk mistaking charisma or ideology for ethics. Formal definitions empower you to compare lives that differ culturally but share moral texture.

The book’s central developmental theory is goal transformation—the gradual evolution of moral purpose through social interaction. Exemplars rarely begin with grand ethical visions; they start with localized concerns and expand them through collaboration and reflection. Damon and Colby describe this process using the psychological metaphor of scaffolding.

From Action to Broader Purpose

You see it in Sakharov’s journey: his scientific activism against nuclear tests led him into civil-rights work as he met dissident colleagues. Or Suzie Valadez, whose teaching in Sunday school evolved into full missionary organization. Actions lead to relationships; relationships transmit values; and those values broaden goals. Moral development thus unfolds through repeated, reciprocal influences rather than isolated resolutions.

How Scaffolding Works

Scaffolding describes co‑construction: mentors or collaborators offer partial guidance that helps a protégé internalize new ends. This framework ensures that change remains continuous with identity, not imposed from outside. For Virginia Durr, early work for women’s rights at Wellesley matured into civil-rights activism through conversations and joint projects with colleagues and Black associates. Even negative pressure—the McCarthy era hostility—functioned as inverse scaffolding, strengthening her commitment through resistance.

Practical Application

To cultivate moral growth, involve people in purposeful action and small groups of support. Use feedback, shared reflection, and sustained engagement rather than top-down lecture. When transformation occurs, the person not only performs moral acts but evaluates them with new internal standards. That shift—from compliance to conviction—is what builds lifelong moral identity.

(This perspective contrasts with traditional stage theories; instead of abstract moral reasoning stages, Damon and Colby show morality as a social, relational growth process shaped by collaboration and example.)

Moral leadership, in Damon and Colby’s analysis, is inherently reciprocal. Exemplars are simultaneously mentors and learners, shaping and reshaped by followers. This relational dynamic allows personal conviction to scale into collective movements without rigidity.

The Paradox of Reciprocal Leadership

Leaders remain steadfast while being flexible. Cabell Brand, founder of TAP, co-created programs with staff like Bristow Hardin who provided daring ideas; such collaboration expanded TAP’s reach while reinforcing Brand’s humanitarian aims. Similarly, Sakharov balanced independence from Soviet coercion with openness to colleagues’ suggestions that broadened his human-rights perspective. Exemplars thrive in tension between autonomy and receptivity.

Personification and Minority Influence

The book uses Serge Moscovici’s theory of minority influence to explain how individual lives symbolize moral possibilities. When a single person embodies values many others secretly endorse, imitation spreads. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and even local figures like Suzie Valadez serve as moral personifications—living examples that liberate others from cynicism and apathy.

How to Apply It

For your own leadership, invite dissent and engage followers in shared problem-solving. True influence arises not from directive charisma but from participatory relationships. The developmental paradox is that you preserve moral continuity precisely by allowing social influence to reshape your practical goals.

(In management and activism alike, this principle counteracts burnout and dogmatism: constant dialogue recharges moral meaning and evolves strategy.)

Long-term moral action entails real cost—sometimes at the expense of safety, family, or livelihood. Damon and Colby examine how exemplars face and manage these risks without succumbing to fear or despair.

Facing Real Risk

Activists like Virginia Durr faced death threats; reformers like Jessie Bowles left lucrative positions; Suzie Valadez crossed borders daily with donated food and no resources. These acts reveal moral courage embedded in daily discipline, not spontaneous heroism. The authors avoid romanticizing sacrifice—participants express regret mainly over family costs, not the cause itself.

Managing Fear and Commitment

Exemplars regulate fear by reframing it as irrelevant to decision. Emmylou Davis explains she learned to “shut it out and keep going.” Such self-regulation stems from firm commitment: once moral choice is clarified, action follows automatically. Damon and Colby invoke Heckhausen’s Rubicon effect—once a decision crosses the threshold, cognition shifts from deliberation to execution. This volitional transformation prevents paralysis and converts anxiety into focus.

Positivity and Flow

Emotional resilience draws on joy and purpose. Through flow experiences, work becomes absorbing and self-transcending. Suzie Valadez expresses tireless optimism: “God will provide.” Such positivity protects against burnout and frames effort as privilege rather than burden. This pattern aligns with Seligman’s learned optimism—explaining setbacks as temporary and external instead of permanent and global.

(Practically, cultivate meaning-focused cognition, strong community support, and decisive commitment—all proven buffers against chronic fear in moral labor.)

Spiritual and psychological sustenance underlie every exemplar’s endurance. For some, faith provides transcendent meaning; for others, hope and forgiveness function as secular or moral strategies. Damon and Colby show that this spiritual dimension translates directly into resilience.

Faith and Meaning

Suzie Valadez’s Pentecostal faith—rooted in visions and healing—gave her a conviction that risk was secondary to divine purpose. Jack Coleman’s Quaker conversion emphasized simplicity and service. Across traditions, religion provides community, language for sacrifice, and frameworks for mercy.

Forgiveness and Mercy

Working among trauma and poverty exposes moral actors to betrayal and frustration. Mother Waddles and Luisa Coll use forgiveness not as naïve tolerance but as practical emotional strategy. Forgiving others keeps relationships functioning where anger would sever trust. Reformers, by contrast, channel righteous indignation—Virginia Durr uses anger to condemn hypocrisy. Both mercy and anger are moral energies if anchored in justice rather than ego.

Positivity and Hope

Learned optimism and humor turn setbacks into opportunity. Mother Waddles laughs off disasters as reminders of divine timing; Cabell Brand treats bureaucratic resistance as solvable engineering problems. Such adaptive optimism stabilizes moral tenacity by recasting obstacles as meaningful tests rather than final defeats.

(In sustaining moral work, forgiveness and optimism are emotional technologies—spiritual or secular tools that transform inevitable wounds into continued commitment.)

Over time, exemplars develop continuity between personality traits, environments, and moral calling. Damon and Colby use two complementary concepts—cumulative continuity and interactional continuity—to explain why certain individuals maintain moral stability while deepening commitment.

Cumulative Continuity

You reinforce character by choosing environments that sustain your traits. Cabell Brand sought challenging roles that rewarded initiative; Suzie Valadez chose missionary contexts aligned with her nurturing disposition. These repeated choices stabilize personality and promote consistent moral opportunity.

Interactional Continuity

Your interaction style evokes feedback that perpetuates traits. Charleszetta Waddles’s warmth inspired volunteer loyalty; Jack Coleman’s honesty elicited trust and responsibility. When relationships consistently mirror moral values back to you, both character and cause grow.

Unity of Self and Morality

Through these continuities emerges full integration—unity of self and morality. Exemplars experience action as natural expression of identity. Cabell Brand’s reflection, “Who I am is what I do,” captures this psychological fusion. Decisions become nonconflictual because personal identity and moral principle coincide. Habit and reflection merge into seamless moral agency.

(For your own growth, deliberately shape environments and relationships to reinforce integrity; over years, this alignment fuses moral values with selfhood, enabling consistent, automatic ethical behavior.)

Damon and Colby conclude by reflecting on research method and personal application. The assisted autobiography approach yields profound insight but carries interpretive limits: memory bias, self‑representation, and lack of control groups. Yet the goal isn’t statistical generalization—it’s to generate developmental hypotheses and actionable models for moral education.

Empirical Checks and Surprises

Kohlberg-style moral reasoning tests show mixed levels among exemplars: commitment and effectiveness don’t correlate perfectly with abstract reasoning competence. This finding reinforces Damon and Colby’s thesis that moral behavior is guided by identity integration and lived practice more than by intellectual sophistication.

Practical Lessons

• Use long-term, reciprocal mentoring to support moral growth—scaffolding matters more than lectures.
• Construct environments and friendships that reinforce moral dispositions (cumulative continuity).
• Develop interactional habits—trust, gratitude, dialogue—that sustain feedback and transformation.
• Anchor your sense of meaning in faith or rational conviction to protect optimism and forgiveness.

These patterns are continuous with ordinary development. You may not become a Gandhi or Durr, but practicing reciprocal engagement, realistic positivity, and unity of purpose yields enduring moral capacity.

(The book’s legacy is methodological and moral: it models how deep life study illuminates psychological mechanisms behind moral character and offers tangible ways for anyone to cultivate them.)