The pivotal role of perceived emotional synchrony in the context of terrorism: Challenges and lessons learned from the March 2016 attack in Belgium

Abstract

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in New York City, terrorism has become one of the most distressing large‐scale societal threats. The March 22, 2016 terrorist attack in Brussels, the capital of Belgium undermined the collective sense of perceived security and social cohesion. The present research investigates Belgian civilians’ (N = 202) terrorist threat perception, personal emotions, and the role of perceived emotional synchrony in the construction of the perceived socioemotional climate in Belgium. The main purpose of the current study was to examine the role of perceived emotional synchrony emerging in collective gatherings as a regulatory mechanism improving the perceived socioemotional climate of the country. Additionally, the precise components (personal vs. collective) shaping the perceptions of terrorist threat were also examined. This study was conducted by a questionnaire during the collective gatherings in Brussels 1 week after the terrorist attack. The main results suggest that the terrorist threat has been perceived at the collective level rather than at the personal level. Furthermore, the perceived emotional synchrony with others mediated specifically the relationship between positive personal emotions and the perceived positive socioemotional climate in Belgium. Such findings point to the importance of considering the perceived emotional synchrony in order to provide a better understanding of lay people's psychosocial responses to terrorism and the subsequent construction of collective macro‐social phenomena in post‐terrorist contexts.

Mass Gatherings, Health, and Well‐Being: From Risk Mitigation to Health Promotion

“…Exploring such possibilities, Páez,, Basabe, Ubillos, and González‐Castro (2007) found the collective sharing of emotion at commemorative demonstrations after a terrorist attack motivated social and political engagement and contributed to more positive perceptions of the wider emotional climate in one's social milieu (e.g., the extent to which others perceived hope, solidarity, and trust). In similar vein, Pelletier (2018) found that the shared positive emotional experience of participation in a commemorative event for the victims of terrorist attack in Belgium shaped participants’ perceptions of the wider community's mood. More specifically, the experience of sharing positive emotions with others allowed one's own positive feelings to be generalized to the wider national community such that one was more hopeful about the nation's resilience and future.…”

The virtues of collective gatherings: A study on the positive effects of a major scouting event

“…So far, studies have focused on contexts as diverse as the aftermath of terrorist attacks (Pelletier, 2018;Rimé, Páez, Basabe, & Martínez, 2010), natural disasters (Wlodarczyk et al, 2016), festivals (Neville & Reicher, 2011;Zumeta, Basabe, et al, 2016a), and fire-walking rituals (Fischer et al, 2014). Nevertheless, this type of research, which focuses on real-life events, deserves particular attention given the multiplicity of types of collective gatherings.…”

“…While psychological research has tended to focus on the individual and group level changes, collective gatherings such as protests and wide social movements also the potential to lead to political and social transformations (see Drury & Reicher, ). These macro‐social transformations are still significantly understudied (for notable exceptions, see Pelletier, ; Uluğ & Acar, ). We believe that investigating the links between psychosocial processes and macro‐level changes allows for the deployment of a truly psychosocial perspective, a perspective that returns to the origins of applied research, and reconnects social psychology with a modern vision of science, considered to be at the service of the emancipation of individuals.…”

“…In summary, studies on synchronization, be it during collective gatherings or using interpersonal experimental settings, point to the positive effect of synchronization on social integration (i.e., feeling of fusion with the group, ease of social interaction, mutual attraction, liking, closeness, collective identity), empowerment (i.e., self‐esteem, personal and collective effectiveness, openness to others and to experience), and adherence to shared beliefs (i.e., concerns evoked by the organization of a rally). Since the publication of Páez et al’s research (), there have been numerous other studies that have further shown the relevance of the neo‐Durkheimian model of collective processes in the study of collective gatherings (see e.g., Carnes & Lickel, ; Pelletier, ; Rennung & Görtiz, ; Van Kleef & Fischer, ; Wlodarczyk et al, ; Zumeta, Basabe, Wlodarczyk, Bobowik, & Páez, ; Zumeta, Oriol, Telletxea, Amutio, & Basabe, ). The body of knowledge about the effects of collective gatherings is rapidly growing and Durkheim's seminal ideas are gaining increasing empirical support.…”

Table_8.DOCX

“…Identity fusion, or blurring of the self-others boundary between the personal and collective self, encourages people to channel their personal agency into group behavior, motivating pro-group behavior, both aggressive and altruistic, and is related to well-being (Gómez et al, 2011;Swann et al, 2012;Zabala et al, 2020, in this monograph). Second, participation in collective emotional gatherings enhances different facets of social belonging, such as social integration (Weiss and Richard, 1997) and perception of social support (Páez et al, 2007), and increases social cohesion by reinforcing positive inter-group stereotypes (Kanyangara et al, 2007), which reinforces a positive emotional climate (de Rivera and Pelletier, 2018;Bouchat et al, 2020;Rimé et al, unpublished) and predicts solidarity (Hawdon and Ryan, 2011). Third, participation elicits positive individual emotions (Neville and Reicher, 2011) and collective emotions (Páez et al, 2007(Páez et al, , 2013 and predicts increases in well-being (Tewari et al, 2012).…”