Armed Forces veterans ‘should not be called heroes’ as label can be a hindrance
Armed Forces veterans should not be called "heroes" as it implies they will work for less, a study has suggested.
According to the findings the label can direct them into lower-paying careers associated with selflessness.
Dr Matthew Stanley, lead author of the study, said his aim was to better understand why veterans often face serious problems with unemployment and underemployment.
Researchers conducted 11 experiments involving 6,500 participants to examine why veterans experienced lower rates of employment and earnings than their civilian peers despite the persistent positive stereotype that they were heroes.
In one experiment, researchers had 149 people rank common careers in the United States based on how selfish they believed the typical employee in that sector to be, in order to create a list of the five careers perceived to be the most and least selfish.
A second set of 311 participants was asked to rate each of those careers by how well they would suit a US military veteran entering the civilian workforce.
A better cultural fit
The researchers found that participants were more likely to say that careers ranked low in selfishness, such as firefighter or public school teacher, would be more appealing, a better cultural fit and better suited to a veteran's skills than jobs ranked high in selfishness, such as estate agent or banker.
Another experiment examined whether people would still think veterans were better suited for selfless careers if they thought that someone enlisted in the military for a reason other than serving others, for example to acquire technical skills.
Dr Stanley, a post-doctoral research associate at Duke University in the US, said: "We typically don't think that describing groups in such extremely positive terms – as heroes – could actually have negative effects on group members.
Tend to be lower paying
"But in the case of veterans, people see them as a better fit at jobs, roles and organisations that they associate with selflessness, which tend to be lower paying."
He said the more "heroic" the participants believe veterans to be, the more likely they are to think they would be willing to earn a living serving others at the expense of other needs or desires such as financial security or providing for their family.
A follow-up study found that the positive stereotypes about veterans and heroism could also be applied to roles including firefighters and nurses.
Dr Stanley added that the persistent belief that heroes should be self-sacrificing may funnel veterans into lower-paying, service-oriented careers rather than ones that fit their own needs and experiences.
The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
