Better Dead than Alive - Heroism Perception of Participants in Historical Events

Three studies regarding heroism perception of individuals participating in the important historical events are presented. We hypothesized that individuals who actively decided to act for a common cause would be perceived as more heroic than passive individuals. We also hypothesized that passive individuals (about whom there is no information regarding their sacrifice for a common cause) who died, would be perceived as more heroic than those who are still alive. The results of two experiments regarding social perception of individuals participating in Warsaw Uprising confirmed these hypotheses. These results additionally showed that the impact of the fact that the individual participating in historical events was not alive was limited only to perception of his/her heroism and was not significant for other interpersonal evaluations. Possible mechanisms are discussed. peerReviewed publishedVersion