What do the Montreal murders mean? Attitudinal and demographic predictors of attribution.

Abstract

We investigated interpretations of the Montreal massacre by giving 348 students at three universities a questionnaire about causes of the massacre, their affective reactions to the event, and their attitudes on a variety of social issues. Factor analysis revealed relationships between the respondents' attributions, feelings, and general attitudes. In particular, there was evidence that attitudes about gender issues were central in organizing responses on many other issues. Understanding of the murders was complex: The majority agreed with several attributional statements, including a causal role for television violence and laxity of gun control laws. The two focal attributions in this study were that the murders were a product of societal sexism and that they were random and unpredictable; support for these was negatively related and the majority agreed with both positions. Extreme support for the sexism interpretation as opposed to extreme support for the randomness interpretation was predicted by being female, not being an engineering major, and having strongly profeminist views. We discuss this in the context of attitudes towards women and gender issues, and the differing personal experiences and reactions of women and men. (Abstract Adapted from Source: Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by the Canadian Psychological Association) Canada Foreign Countries Mass Homicide Homicide Causes Homicide Perceptions Violence Causes Violence Perceptions College Student Research Demographic Factors Adult Perceptions Adult Attitudes Television Violence Adult Homicide Adult Offender Adult Violence Case Studies Media Violence Effects Firearms Control Firearms Violence Sociocultural Factors 03-00