Perceiving Heroism

Recently, entire occupations have been granted the label of "Heroes". For example, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in previous health crises (such as the SARS and H1N1 pandemics), healthcare workers were applauded – sometimes literally – as ‘heroes’. Military personnel in the US, but also in the UK, are also often called ‘heroes’. So are police, firefighters, and other first responders. But how malleable is this perception of heroism in these occupations? Can we manipulate the public perception toward recognising "heroism" in occupations not typically perceived as such (e.g., psychiatrists)? In this study, we will test how malleable the perception of heroism in an occupation is. Specifically, we hypothesise two core components of heroism perception: H1 -- Perception of physical threat contributes to the perception of heroism H2 -- Altruistic motivations of the group's member contribute to the perception of heroism