Choose and study role models deliberately
Select a specific person whose character in a specific domain you want to internalize, and study how they act — not just what they say.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Select a specific person whose character in a specific domain you want to internalize, and study how they act — not just what they say.
- Why it works: Aristotle pointed to the phronimos (the practically wise person) as a model; MacIntyre notes that character is first transmitted through exemplars rather than rules. Role models work because the human brain is built for imitative learning — observing virtuous action in context transmits tacit knowledge about what virtue looks like in real situations, which abstract descriptions cannot capture.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: Choosing a role model for their outcomes (wealth, fame, success) rather than their character — which imports the wrong target and models the wrong means.
Why it works
Aristotle pointed to the phronimos (the practically wise person) as a model; MacIntyre notes that character is first transmitted through exemplars rather than rules. Role models work because the human brain is built for imitative learning — observing virtuous action in context transmits tacit knowledge about what virtue looks like in real situations, which abstract descriptions cannot capture.
How to do it
- 1Identify one person whose character in a specific domain you genuinely admire — someone you know or whose life is documented well enough to study.
- 2Focus on how they act in hard cases, not easy ones — virtue is most visible under pressure.
- 3Ask: what specifically do they do that you would not have done? Name the virtue in that action.
- 4In your next similar situation, use them as a reference point: "What would [person] see that I am missing?"
What the evidence says
ObservationalObservational learning (Bandura) is well supported as a mechanism for acquiring complex behaviors and dispositions; exemplar-based moral education has a long history in both virtue ethics and developmental psychology.
Honest caveat: Social learning research is largely on behavioral modeling; generalization to virtue as character disposition requires the additional step that Aristotle provides but empirical research has not directly tested.
- — Bandura, A. (1977), Social learning theory, Prentice Hall
Common mistake
Choosing a role model for their outcomes (wealth, fame, success) rather than their character — which imports the wrong target and models the wrong means.
IX Coach can walk you through how a specific person you admire might perceive a current situation, translating the role-model insight into something actionable in the moment.
Practice this with IX Coach →