Does Watching the News Affect Fear of Terrorism? The Importance of Media Exposure on Terrorism Fear

Nellis, Ashley; Savage, Joanne

doi:10.1177/0011128712452961

Cited by 127 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Individuals react differently to fear appeals depending on threat severity and controllability (Witte, , see also Herzenstein et al, ). In the context of terrorism news, first research evidence suggests that news articles about terrorist attacks can evoke individuals’ fear of terror (e.g., Nellis & Savage, ; von Sikorski et al, , ). For instance, von Sikorski and colleagues () have argued that fear of terror is particularly high when individuals perceive the outgroup, that is, the number of potential offenders, as large.…”

Section: Emotional Responses To Terrorism Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability

Matthes

Schmuck

Sikorski

2019

Political Psychology

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Terrorist attacks committed by the so‐called Islamic State are rising in Western countries. How the news media portray these attacks may crucially influence emotional responses and support for anti‐Muslim policies such as immigration bans. Based on the Extended parallel response model (EPRM, Witte, 1992), we theorize that specific features of terrorism news such as threat severity (e.g., high vs. low number of potential terrorist offenders) and threat controllability (e.g., nondiffuse, controllable threat vs. diffuse, uncontrollable threat) influence individuals’ emotional reactions and policy support. A quota‐based online experiment (N = 501) reveals that news articles featuring a high number of offenders increase individuals’ fear of terror irrespective of whether the threat is portrayed as controllable or not. News articles featuring a low number of offenders only evoke fear of terror if the threat is portrayed as diffuse. Additionally, news articles emphasizing a high number of offenders combined with a controllable terrorism threat elicit anger on the government. Both anger and fear of terror subsequently increase anti‐Muslim policy support.

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Section: Emotional Responses To Terrorism Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability

Matthes

Schmuck

Sikorski

2019

Political Psychology

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“…Especially, Muslims are regularly depicted as out-group extremists (Chuang & Roemer, 2013;Mahony, 2010;Sides & Gross, 2013) and are linked to terrorist acts in terrorism news (Ahmed & Matthes, 2016;Gerhards & Schäfer, 2014;Satti, 2015). In this context, a different line of research has demonstrated that exposure to news reports about terrorism frequently elicits fear of terrorism in news consumers (Nellis & Savage, 2012;Slone, 2000) and generates negative attitudes toward out-groups, as for instance Arabs (Das, Bushman, Bezemer, Kerkhof, & Vermeulen, 2009;Oswald, 2005; Stephan, Renfro, Esses, Stephan, & Martin, 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Muslims are not Terrorists”: Islamic State Coverage, Journalistic Differentiation Between Terrorism and Islam, Fear Reactions, and Attitudes Toward Muslims

Sikorski

Schmuck

Matthes

et al. 2017

Mass Communication and Society

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“…2013), the role of the mass media (e.g., Nellis & Savage, 2012), and the nature and impact of perceived risk (e.g., Ferraro, 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive closure and risk sensitivity in the fear of crime

Jackson

2013

Legal Criminol Psychol

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Purpose This study was designed to answer two questions. First, does the risk sensitivity model of worry about crime replicate in three European countries? Second, can the model be extended to include need for cognitive closure? Method A national probability survey in Italy, Bulgaria, and Lithuania measured worry about criminal victimization, risk perception, and need for cognitive closure. Additive and interactive relationships between latent constructs were tested using latent moderated structural equation modelling. Results First, perceived likelihood, control, and consequence were statistically significant additive predictors of worry about crime. Second, the association between subjective probability judgements and worry about crime was stronger among people who associated the uncertain event with serious personal consequences and among people who had a high need for cognitive closure. Third, need for cognitive closure was associated with greater perceived consequences of victimization, but not with different perceptions of the likelihood and controllability of personal victimization. Conclusions This study provides empirical support for an extended risk sensitivity model in three European countries. Findings suggest that risk perception involves multiple – and interacting – dimensions that constitute sensitivity to risk, as well as individual differences in knowledge construction, information judgement, and processing. Future work should address (1) whether probability judgements shift psychological distance to uncertain future outcomes, and (2) whether the effect of psychological distance on worry about crime is greater among people who construe the outcome to be severe in consequence and who desire definite knowledge and dislike uncertainty in their lives.

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Does Watching the News Affect Fear of Terrorism? The Importance of Media Exposure on Terrorism Fear

Cited by 127 publications

References 40 publications

Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability

Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability

“Muslims are not Terrorists”: Islamic State Coverage, Journalistic Differentiation Between Terrorism and Islam, Fear Reactions, and Attitudes Toward Muslims

Cognitive closure and risk sensitivity in the fear of crime

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