June 14, 2026
Always Looking For A Hero
An essay exploring what drives our need for hero and idol worship.
4 min read
The world seems to always be awash in idols or, rather, in people worshiping and making idols of others. We look to celebrities, sports figures, politicians, religious and more to serve as role models hoping we can emulate their behavior. And yes, sometimes we kid ourselves believing that some of their success reflects back on us. Our self esteem improves by being a fanboy.
It’s tribal at its core. Look at any game night or weekend and you’ll see people decked out in their favorite player’s jersey in a form of gentle cosplay. We are desperate to demonstrate that we are with the ‘in’ crowd.
As kids or adolescents we are taught that hero worship is a worthwhile endeavor. Parents instruct their sons and daughters which athlete is worthy to model themselves after. Most of the time the hero is someone who plays the same position as the child, or the parent likes the vibe provided by the back story the media sells or interviews the performer gives (aren’t all athletes performers as well?).
If we are honest, we know nearly nothing about these people. All we see is the time they are on the field, court, or stage. We don’t know their personal lives, their relationships, their thoughts in their quietest moments or the demons that they control and insecurities they hide so we don’t see them. We see what they want us to see because, after all, they are all acting in one shape or another for our entertainment. Didn’t Shakespeare and Getty Lee identify that “all the world’s indeed a stage and we are merely players”?
What drives us to take the one thing that we like about a person and go on to create an entirely inappropriate image about them? And why do we throughout all of history seem to be on the lookout for others to emulate and worship?
Cognitive bias for hero worship
There is a cognitive bias called the halo effect, where a positive trait is generalized to other unrelated traits. This can contribute to the idolization of a person. The halo effect, for instance, makes us attribute positive qualities to someone based on one outstanding trait. So if an actor is really good-looking, we might assume they’re also kind, intelligent, and talented – even if we don’t have any evidence for those other qualities.
Are we aware of this cognitive bias?
Luke Burgis in his book, Wanting: The power of mimetic desire in everyday life, identifies something called “mimetic desire”. This is the idea that most human wanting comes from imitating the desires of others. And we are unaware of our imitation of others, it just occurs naturally and subconsciously. Everyone is surrounded by people who without our knowledge generate, shape, and manipulate our desires each and every day.
Take for instance this hypothetical. I am impressed with a friend’s management of money and the wealth they have secured. I begin to take on a similar belief system, as far as money is concerned, and I find that my own situation improves when I apply some of their recommendations about financial behaviors. They make a positive impression on me.
What does this mean?
You’d think that this would be the end of story. However, unconsciously I may begin to take on their social or political beliefs out of my mimetic desire. Or, I may being to dress like them or shop in similar stores. We desire what others desire because we look to them to determine what is valuable.
The consequences of mimetic desire are startling. People learn to want what other people want. Just look no further than Instagram or TikTok for this behavior. But we have free will and we don’t need to fall under the spell of mimetic desire. We can remind ourselves of the cognitive biases that evolution has built into our brains and question why we believe we think we want something. Those who understand mimetic desire have a tremendous advantage over those who don’t.
Previous Reading:
Burgis, Luke. (2021) Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. St. Martin’s Press
NeuroLaunch Editorial Team (September 15, 2024) Hero Worship Psychology: Exploring the Fascination with Idols and Icons. https://neurolaunch.com/hero-worship-psychology/
Lee, Sarah. (June 16, 2025). The Psychology Behind Idolatrous Behavior. Number Analytics. https://www.numberanalytics.com/blog/psychology-behind-idolatrous-behavior