Abstract
AntecedentsPrevious research on citizens’ reactions after terrorist events has shown that positive reactions can also emerge alongside pain and horror. Positive emotions have been widely associated with an abstract style of thinking. In the context of the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015, we explored Spanish citizens’ positive reactions – empathic concern, positive emotional climate, and esteem for humanity – and examined the relationships of these responses with an abstract (vs. concrete) style of thinking.MethodA longitudinal study was designed involving an online questionnaire that was administered 10 days, 3 weeks, and 2 months after the attacks (N = 253).ResultsEmpathic concern and personal distress toward Parisians decreased from the weeks following the attacks to 2 months later, with empathic concern always being more intense than personal distress. Emotional climate was perceived as more hostile than positive, although positive feelings persisted. People reported moderately positive esteem for humanity. Individuals with a more abstract style of thinking reported greater empathic concern, a more positive emotional climate, and more esteem for humanity.ConclusionsOur results support and extend previous research showing that abstraction enhances people’s resilience, even under traumatic circumstances such as those surrounding a terrorist attack.
Highlights
Since September 2001 event in New York and Washington DC, a large body of research has addressed how people deal with collective violence, such as terrorist attacks
In the context of the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015, we explored Spanish citizens’ positive reactions – empathic concern, positive emotional climate, and esteem for humanity – and examined the relationships of these responses with an abstract style of thinking
Empathic concern and personal distress toward Parisians decreased from the weeks following the attacks to 2 months later, with empathic concern always being more intense than personal distress
Summary
Since September 2001 event in New York and Washington DC, a large body of research has addressed how people deal with collective violence, such as terrorist attacks. After the attacks in the United States, Europe suffered the terrible pain caused by terrorists on several occasions: Madrid (2004), London (2005, 2017), Oslo and Utøya (2011), Paris (2015), Berlin, Brussels, Nice (2016), Stockholm, Manchester, Barcelona (2017), and Strasbourg (2018). All of these dramatic events have created countless direct and indirect victims. The media and social networks allowed people to share information about the terrible damage suffered by the victims; communication that fostered a wave of solidarity and support around the world toward Parisians Such social communication promotes emotional reactions in people who are not directly affected by the attacks (i.e., indirect or vicarious victims). These vicarious victims may suffer negative emotional consequences (e.g., Pelletier and DrozdaSenkowska, 2016; Luhmann and Bleidorn, 2018) and even major depressive disorders (e.g., Salguero et al, 2011)
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