Essential work as dirty work: how social media shaped heroism perceptions and job change intentions during COVID-19

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic shaped essential workers’ perceptions of their roles, particularly through engagement with social media. Drawing on the dirty work academic literature, we investigate how public expressions of appreciation, specifically, social media posts thanking essential workers, were associated with workers’ hero status perceptions, withdrawal behavior, and job change intentions. Using survey data from self-identified essential workers recruited via social media, we found that engaging with posts created by others was positively associated with hero status perceptions and negatively associated with job change intentions. However, creating such content oneself was linked to lower heroism perceptions, suggesting more complex identity dynamics. These findings extend dirty work scholarship by showing how public narratives can influence occupational identity and shape behavioral intentions, even in crisis contexts.