Slone 2000 Media Coverage Terrorism

8/11/2019 Slone 2000 Media Coverage Terrorism

1/16

Responses to Media Coverage of TerrorismAuthor(s): Michelle SloneSource: The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Aug., 2000), pp. 508-522Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/174639.

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2/16

Responses

to

Media

Coverage

of Terrorism

MICHELLE

SLONE

Departmentof Psychology

TelAviv University

Differential

anxiety

responses o television

coverageof national

hreat

ituationsand terrorism

n

Israel

were examined.

A total of 237

participants

were

evenly

divided nto two groups,

each

exposed to an experi-

mental or control

condition.

The

experimental

ondition

nvolved exposure

to television news

clips of ter-

rorism

and

threats o

nationalsecurity.

The

controlcondition

nvolved equivalent-length

xposure

to

news

clips

unrelated o

national danger

situations.

Results supported he

anxiety-inducing

ffect of the experi-

mentalcondition

and ndicated

differentialdemographic

nddispositional

responses

o the footage accord-

ing to gender,religiousness,and level of dogmatism.Theseresultssupport hepowerfuleffect of the mass

media

and

advocate urther

xploration

of

links between media broadcasting

f

political

violence and

psy-

chological processes.

Research

on the influence

of the mass media

on

people's

attitudesand

emotional

states

has

a

long

andcontentious

history.Arguments

ange

romthosethatcitethe

mass

media as

a

powerfulpropaganda

ool capable

of

molding

the attitudes

of a susceptible

public(HermanandChomsky1988;Lee 1990)to those thatclaim the mediahas avery

limited

influence (Curran,

Gurevitch,

and Woollacott 1982).

However,

in

general,

unreliable

methodologies

and

complex

results have

plagued

this

body

of

research

(Blumler

andGurevitch

1982).

In the subdomain

of

mass media

reporting

of

violence,

a clearer

picture

has

begun

to

emerge.

In

general,

findings

have

demonstrated

hat media

documentationof vio-

lence

and brutalityengenders

feelings

of fear

even

among

individuals

who

have not

been directlyexposed

to such

violence

and

for whom it

poses

no

immediate

personal

threat

(Bandura

1986).

Furthermore,

esults

suggest

that the

extent and direction of

media nfluencemayvaryacrossgroupsorindividuals BlumlerandGurevitch1982).

However,

he

majority

of research

has focused

only

on media

reports

of criminalvio-

lence,

whereas the emotional

mpact

of media

coverage

of

political

violence remains

virtually unexplored.

In

light

of

this

hiatus,

this

study

focuses

on the emotional

response

evoked

by

media

coverage

of

political

violence.

More

specifically,

t investi-

gates

the differential

anxiety

response

of

different

groups

of individuals

o

television

coverage

of

political

terrorism.

It

has

long

been recognized

hat

political

circumstances

xertan

impact

on the

emo-

tional

status

of individuals.

The

deleterious

psychological

effects of

political

instabil-

ity and accompanyingviolence have been clearlydemonstratedn such diverse the-

JOURNAL

OF

CONFLICT

RESOLUTION,

Vol.

44

No.

4,

August

2000 508-522

?

2000

Sage

Publications,

nc.

508

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3/16

Slone

/MEDIA

COVERAGEOF TERRORISM

509

aters of

conflict as Northern reland

CairnsandWilson 1989),

South Africa

(Dawes

1994), Lebanon(Macksoudand Aber

1996), andGuatemala Miller

1996).

Congru-

ently, Israeli and

Palestinian tudieshave echoed

international indings

(Baker1990;

Klingman,Sagi,

and Raviv 1993;

Punamaki 1988; Slone, Adiri,

and Arian

1998).

However,

althoughmost past research

n

this area

has targeted heeffect of victimiza-

tion

or

witnessing

of

political

violence, the

adverse psychological

consequencesof

political

upheavalareby

no

meanscaused

exclusively by directcontactwith incidents

of confrontation

or

violence.

Most

individuals

do not assess threatto personal

and

nationalsecurityon

the

basis

of directexperiencebutratheron the

basis of more

indi-

rect forms of exposure.

One

of the most salient channels

through

which information

andperceptionsaregleaned s throughmass mediacoverageof politicalevents,which

may mediateassessments

of

threat.However, he

absence

of neutrality

n

the

majority

of

media

reports

has been cited

by

critics

across the

political spectrum Giner-Sorolla

and Chaiken 1994), suggesting

thatthe

public

is

exposed

to biased coverage

of

politi-

cal events that may

influence attitudes

and feelings

in

particular

directions.

The political

milieu

of

Israel

constellates

many

of

these issues

and

provides

a rich

context

within

which

to

redressthe lack of

rigorous

methodological

researchon the

psychological impact

of media

reports

of

political

violence. The

long-standing

peace

initiative n

the Middle East

has

failed to curb

he

high

levels of

political

violence or to

ease concerns or nationalandpersonal ecurity owhichbothIsraelisandPalestinians

are

exposed

on a

daily

basis.

For

Israelis,

the

establishment

of a Jewish state has for

decades been

fraught

with

opposition

o

its

autonomous

xistence, war,

hreats

of

war,

and terrorist

ttacks

Harkabi

1988).

Recurring pates

of suicide

bombings,

the assas-

sinationof

the

prime

minister

n

1995,

and the

faltering

sraeli-Palestinian

eace

pro-

cess

have intensified

the

ideological

and

political

divisions not

only

between Israelis

and

Palestinians

but also between

Israelis

at

opposing

ends of the

political

spectrum

(Arian

1996).

The

Israeli

population's reoccupation

with national

ecurity

s

reflected

in its constant

evaluation

of the

country's security

status

and the

plentiful

critical

debates

about t

in

the

mass media

(Jacobson

andBar-Tal

1995). Although

he

psycho-

logical

effects

on

Israelisof direct

exposure

o

war

and

political

violence as witnesses

or victims

have

been

well documented

n

recent

iterature

Klingman,

Sagi,

andRaviv

1993; Slone, Adiri,

and

Arian,

1998),

the emotional

mpact

of the

widespread

expo-

sure

to media

coverage

of such events

remainsunknown.

The

spectrum

of

political

attitudes

among

Israelis

oward

ecurity

ssues and

defini-

tions of borders

highlights

he

complex

nterweaving

f

political

and

religious

deology.

On

this

grid,

the

boundaries

of

religion

and

nationalismare

blurred

Tabory

1993).

Religiondictatesthatall the landof Israel s sacred,promised o the Jewishpeopleby

God,

thus

makingpolitical

claims for

the land andresistance

o its

surrender

nsepara-

ble

from

religious

belief.

Israel

s

perceived

as

both

a

nationaland a

religious

home-

land,

and

any

threat

o the

security

of the

country

can be construed

as a

peril

both

to

the

Jewish

religion

and

to the Israeli nation.

The

ideology

of the land

operates

together

with

security

concerns

and

perceptions

of

threat

n

orderingpolitical

orientation. n

this

way,

political

and nationalistic

attitudes

are thus

often

intricately

inked to

reli-

gious

attitudes

Arian

1996).



4/16

510 JOURNALOF CONFLICT

RESOLUTION

There are

a

number

of religious groupings

n Israel,which can

be broadlycatego-

rized into

three divisions. First,the ultraorthodox

ews, who comprise

approximately

5%of the population,aredistinguishedby theirmodesttraditional ress, nsulatedres-

idential

communities,anddevoutpractice

of traditional

ewishreligious laws and

ritu-

als. Second,

the

religious

Jews,

who comprise

approximately 0%

to 45% of the

popu-

lation,

aremoremodem and ess insulated han he ultraorthodox

lthough till stringent

and devout

in their religious practices. Third, approximately

40%

to 45% identify

themselves

as secular

Jews

(Tabory

1993).

On

this

spectrum,

he ultraorthodox ommunity

ends

to oppose

most strongly,

and

frequently

more militantly

than other religious grouping

any attemptby the state

to

cede land to

the Palestinians n

the

frameworkof the

peace negotiations.

They arethe

most extremerepresentatives

f the interlockedreligion-politics usion. The assassi-

nation

of the doveish

PrimeMinisterRabin

by

an

orthodoxJewopposed

to

his

peace

initiatives

highlights

some

of

the

ways

in

which

political

opposition

divides the popu-

lation alongreligious

dimensions.

In the

Israeli

context,

the

enmeshment

of

land and religion

suggests

that Israelis

may

have

differingpsychological

responses

to

threats

o

national

security,depending

on

their

degree

of

religiousness.

General

indings

on the relation

between religionand

emotionalresponse

have been

inconclusive, with

some

studies

reporting

a

positive

relationbetween thetwo variables Koenig1993;Myersand Diener 1995;Neeleman

and Persand

1995)

such that individuals

with

high

levels of intrinsic

religiousness

experience

ess anxiety

thanothers

Mickley,

Carson,

andSoeken

1995).

However, he

majority

of

studies have found

no

significant

relation

between

religion

and

mental

health

(Hathaway

and

Pargament

1990). Surprisingly,very

little research

has been

devoted

to

this

question

in

Israel,

although

he few studies that have been conducted

echo

this

finding

of no

significant

relation

(Francis

and Katz

1992).

This

study departs

rom previouscorrelative

esearch

n that

rather han

examining

the

broadrelation

between

religion

and

mental

health

t

focuses more

narrowly

on

psy-

chological esponseso aparticularypeofstressorn anexperimentalesign.Specifically,

the

study

examines

the effects of

media

coverage

of threats o national

security

with

particular

eference o

differential

esponse

according

o

degree

of

religiousness.

This

refinementof

methodology

enables

a

rigorous

examinationof

the role of

religion

in

mediating

psychological

well-being

in

this

specific

political

context.In

addition,

n

the

search

or a finer

discrimination

f the

way

in which

stress

responses

o

political

broad-

casts

are mediated

by

religion,

this

study

includes examinationof the

dispositional

variable

of

dogmatism,

which

is

closely

relatedto

religious

ideology.

The

concept

of

dogmatism

was

developed by

Rokeach

(1960)

as a

measure of

authoritarianism ithout deologicalcontent(Sexton 1983).Rokeach(1960) defined

dogmatism

as a

closed

cognitive organization

f

beliefs

about

reality,

manifested

n an

inclination

o

be close-minded,

ntolerant

of

others,

and

deferential o

authority.

Peo-

ple

who

score

high

on

dogmatism

have

a

pervasive

outlook of

fear, pessimism,

and

concern

for

power.

Although

the

concept

of

dogmatism

was

developed

to

encompass

all

points

on the

political

spectrum,

hose who

score

high

on

dogmatism

also tend to

score

high

on

measures

of authoritarianism

Hanson

1968;

Plant

1960).

Authoritarian-

ism,

in

turn,

s correlated

with

conservativeor extremist

right-wingpolitical

attitudes,



5/16

Slone IMEDIA COVERAGEOF

TERRORISM 511

nationalism,and religiosity (Adornoet al. 1950; Eckhardt1991) and shows

different

patternsby gender (McFarland,Agayev,

and

Abalinka 1990). Although the

relation

between

dogmatism

and

gender

has not

been rigorouslyexamined,some studies have

found

higher

scores

on Rokeach'sF

scale for men than for women (Duckitt

1983).

Dogmatism also appears o mediate emotional stress responses.

Rokeach (1960)

himself

suggested

that

dogmatism

s

a rigid but brittledefense againstanxiety,which

would be correlatedwith anxietyresponses o stress.Indeed,when subjected

o exami-

nation,

studies

have

shown

a direct relationbetween a high level of

dogmatism and

increased evels of anxiety (Anderson 1962; Nidorf and Argabrite1968).

In

accord

with

these considerations,

he

aims of the present study were twofold.

First,it attempted o extend existing but generallymethodologically ragileresearch

on

the impact

of

media

reports

of

violence to the arenaof

political violence and

terror-

ism.

In

the

attempt

o

employ

a

rigorousmethodologicaldesign,

the

study

nvestigated

whetheran intervention f a politicalfilm containing elevision news clips of

threats o

Israel'snational ecurityand errorist ctivity

n

the country nducesanxiety

responses

in an Israeli sample. Second, the study aimed to investigate whether the exposure

would nduceanxietychangesdifferentiallyn variousgroupingswithin he

population.

In

line with these

aims,

the

study posited

four

hypotheses.

The first

hypothesis

stated

that there would be

an

increase

n

state

anxiety

in

the

experimental

group

that

was exposed to the intervention howingterrorist ctivitiesbutnotin the controlgroup

thatwas

exposed

to an interventionunrelated o terrorism nd national

hreat.Positive

results for this

research

question

would reinforce

the

validity

of the

intervention

and

allow examination

of the other

research

questions.

The other three hypothesesrelated o the differential mpact of media

exposure to

political

violence

for different ectors

of

the

population.

To

explore

this

question,

hree

participant

characteristics

were examined.

These

characteristics

were

gender,

reli-

giousness,

and

dogmatism.

Regardinggender

differences

n

response

o

the

intervention,

he

second

hypothesis

stated

that the

difference

n state

anxiety

in the

experimentalgroup

would

be

greater

for women

thanfor

men.

This is

in

line with

prolific

researchon

gender

differences

n

stress

responses,

which

reports

hat

significantlyhigher

rates

of

anxiety

are

diagnosed

among

women than

among

men

(Myers

and

Diener

1995;Pilgrim

and

Rogers1993).

Regarding eligiousness,

he third

hypothesis

stated hat he difference n

stateanxi-

ety

as

a

result

of the

intervention or the

experimental roup

would

be

greater

or

reli-

gious persons

than

or secular

persons.

The

complex, unique nterweaving

of

national-

ism and

religion

in Israel

at this historical

uncturesuggests

that orthodoxmore than

secularIsraelismaybe moreinvested n maintaining srael'ssecuritywithout surren-

dering

and

n the West

Bank n

return

or

peace

treaties.

This

is due to their

strong

reli-

gious

beliefs

in the

legitimacy

of a Jewish

homeland as defined

in

the

Bible,

which

compounds political

and nationalistic

deologies. Thus,

visual materialof

threats o

the existent

structure

along

with

their

fear that these threats would not deter the

left-wing government

rom

and-for-peace

deals

would

be

more

anxietyprovoking

or

orthodox

sraelis

han or secular sraelis

whose

recognition

of national

ecurity

hreats

has

generally spurred upport

or

land-for-peace

deals.



6/16

512 JOURNALOF

CONFLICTRESOLUTION

Finally,given the apparentinks

between

anxiety,dogmatism, eligiousness,

ndgen-

der, the

fourthhypothesis stated

thatdogmatism

would interact

with gender

and reli-

giousnessin determining heimpactof theexperimentalmanipulation n stateanxiety.

METHOD

PARTICIPANTS

Participants

n the

study

were

237 Israeli adults,relatively

evenly divided

by gen-

der.They ranged

n

age from

20 to 56, the averageage

being 34.7.

Participantswere

divided into two groups:120 comprised heexperimental roup hatwas exposedto a

media

intervention

of television clips

of

terrorism

and political violence,

and 117

comprisedthe

control

group

that received

an

intervention

of

news clips unrelated o

national

threat.

All

participants

were of middle-class socioeconomic

status

and held

various

public

service jobs,

such as

teaching

and other

technical, administrative,

nd

municipal

positions. Post

hoc

comparisons

between the experimental

and

control

groups

showed

no

significant

differenceson

the

demographic

haracteristics

f gen-

der, age,

socioeconomic status,

and parental

ducational evel. Exposure

o

one of the

two conditions was the only difference n procedurebetween the two groups.

INSTRUMENTS

All

participants

ompleted

the

following questionnaires:

Stateanxietyquestionnaire

Spielberger,Gorsuch,

andLushene

1970).

This

widely

used

questionnaire

xamines

state

anxiety

evel and

consists of

20

items thatdescribe

various eelings.

The

respondent

s

required

o indicate or eachitem,

on a scale

of

1 to

4 (notat all, a little,moderately, lot),thedescription hatbest reflectshis orher cur-

rentfeelings.

The summed

score of all items is a measure

of the

respondent's

tateanx-

iety.

The

questionnaire

has been translated

nto Hebrew

Teichman

and

Melink

1979)

according

o

the instructions

of the authorand

is

widely

used

in

Israel.

The

question-

naire

s

reported

o have

excellent

psychometric

properties

with cross-cultural

pplica-

bility

and

good

test-retest

and

split-halfproperties.

The

Cronbach's

alpha

coefficient

for the

scale

reported

n

the

literature s .91.

In

the

presentstudy,

the test

was used as

a

split-half

measure

with 10 items

administered

before the

interventionand 10 items

after

the

intervention

n

both the

experimental

and control

conditions.

The internal

consistencyfor the preinterventiondministrationwas a = .92 and for the postinter-

vention

administration

=

.95, yielding

anoverall

nternal

onsistency

core

of

a=

.94.

Rokeach'sE

Version

Dogmatism

Questionnaire.

This

questionnaire

onsists

of

40

items,

each

of which

is a declarative

entence,

to

which

respondents

are

required

o

rate their

agreement

or

disagreement

on a scale

from -3

(very

much

disagree)

to

+3

(very

much

agree).

A

general

dogmatism

score

is

yielded

by

convertingratings

to

a

1

very

much

disagree)

to

6

(very

much

agree)

scale

and

summing

these

ratings.

The



7/16


8/16

514

JOURNAL

OF CONFLICTRESOLUTION

tained ocally relevant

news

clips thathadbeen broadcast

n Israelinational elevision,

but t did not containcoverage

of

terrorist ctivity

or

direct

danger o nationalsecurity.

After each condition,participants esponded o the

second half of the state anxiety

questionnaire.The experimentaland control conditions were randomlypresentedto

the

groups

of

participants.

At the end of the entire experiment,all participants esponded o a question con-

cerning

their

own or

their close

family's

direct

exposure

to terrorism.The rationale

underlying

his

question

was

to

remove from the study participantswhose responses

may have derivednot

from

media portrayals

f

terrorism

but from direct exposure as

victims.

Only

one

participant espondedaffirmatively,

nd she was removedfrom the

sample, leavingthe 237 participants f the study.

RESULTS

First,the delta

for

the

differences n state

anxiety

before and after he interventions

was calculated.

There was

no

significant

difference

n

state

anxiety

between

the

two

groups prior

to the interventions.

To

test the hypotheses,

a

2

x

2

x

2

x

2

ANOVAwas conductedwith the intervention

conditions(experimentalandcontrol),gender(maleandfemale), religiousness (reli-

gious and secular),

and

dogmatism high

and

low,

divided

at the

median)

as the inde-

pendent

variables

and the delta

(state anxietydifference)

as the

dependent

variable.

The first hypothesis

was

supportedby

a

main effect

of

the

intervention

condition,

F(1, 222)

=

127.34,

p

Documents

Slone 2000 Media Coverage Terrorism