Title
The Role of Perceived Collective Anger and Fear on Policy Support in Response to Terrorist Threat
Date of Award
2-2010
Document type
dissertation
Access Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Psychology
First Advisor
Linda R. Tropp
Second Advisor
Brian Lickel
Third Advisor
Aline Sayer
Subject Categories
Psychology | Social Psychology
Abstract
The current research investigates how the perceived emotional responses of a majority of Americans to 9/11 (i.e., collective anger and fear) affect individuals’ support for governmental policies, in particular, military intervention, anti-immigration policy, and restricting civil liberties. Study 1 found that perceived collective anger was associated with support for military intervention and anti-immigration policy, and that those effects of perceived collective anger on policy support were significantly driven by individuals’ own anger. Study 2 showed that experimentally manipulated collective anger (i.e., exposure to the majority’s anger relative to the minority’s anger) had marginal effects on support for anti-immigration policy and restricting civil liberties, and individuals’ own anger mediated the marginal effect of collective anger on support for restricting civil liberties. Participants exposed to either the majority’s or minority’s fear supported anti-immigration policy and restricting civil liberties as strongly as did those exposed to the majority’s anger. Implications and limitations of these findings were discussed.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/1266202
Recommended Citation
Kim, Jaeshin, "The Role of Perceived Collective Anger and Fear on Policy Support in Response to Terrorist Threat" (2010). Open Access Dissertations. 194.
https://doi.org/10.7275/1266202
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/194