Understanding the power of the picture: the effect of image content on emotional and political responses to terrorism

Abstract

ReuseUnless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. Viewing images of terrorism can have a powerful impact on individuals' emotional and political responses, yet little is known about the psychological processes underlying these effects. We hypothesized that the content of terrorism images will shape viewers' appraisals of the event, which will elicit specific emotions and political attitudes. Acts of terrorism deliver political messages in a dramatic fashion-a goal that is increasingly facilitated in the era of 24-hour news reporting. In an era of saturation coverage in the print, television, and Internet media, people around the world are regularly exposed to graphic images of terrorist acts. As a result, even those who are far removed from the physical sites of terrorism can experience the powerful impact of these attacks.Individuals who do not directly witness a terrorist attack tend to rely on the media to provide information about such events (Chermak & Gruenwald, 2006;Nacos, 2003 Images are capable of communicating the details of an event in succinct and captivating ways, so much so that they have been termed "visual quotations" (Sontag, 2003). A photograph is especially likely to communicate a particular frame or perspective, as any twodimensional still image is constrained in its ability to represent the individuals and objects The Impact of Media Coverage on Viewers' Understandings of TerrorismThe different terrorism frames that are presented in the media have the capacity to shape the parameters of public debate (see Picard, 1993). For instance, news coverage can bestow legitimacy upon a particular view and ensure widespread dissemination of its ideas; such publicity and status then serves to attract additional support and resources to its cause (Chermak & Gruenewald, 2006;Weimann & Winn, 1994). Given the broad reach of the media, various theoretical accounts propose that media reports should influence the viewing public's views towards the event in question (e.g., Deprez & Raeymaeckers, 2010;McLaughlin & Baker, 2010). Research has shown that exposure to media coverage of terrorism increases anxiety and fear (Gadarian, 2010;Slone, 2000), and that these emotions at least partly determine viewers' attitudes toward terrorism (Gadarian, 20...

A Clearer Picture: The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Framing Effects

“…Appraised salience of the stimulus was measured using one measure (“ The image/article was attention‐grabbing ”; 1 = not at all , 7 = strongly ). Finally, participants indicated the extent to which they felt various emotions while viewing the stimulus (1 = not at all , 7 = extremely ), using the same measures as Iyer et al (). Three items assessed fear ( afraid , anxious , frightened ; α = .88), three items measured sympathy ( sympathetic , compassionate , empathetic ; α = .90), and three items assessed anger ( angry , outraged , furious ; α = .91).…”

“…Although a large body of nonvisual research has shown that emotions can shape individuals' political behavior (e.g., Neuman, Marcus, Crigler, & Mackuen, ), few studies have assessed the contribution of affective responses to visuals in the framing process (Brantner, Lobinger, & Wetzstein, ; Iyer et al, ; Pfau et al, ). This is particularly surprising given that visuals play a leading role compared with text in triggering an emotional response (Iyer & Oldmeadow, ).…”

“…The mediating role of emotions in visual framing effects has been examined by Iyer et al (). They showed participants a neutral text describing the 2005 London bombings followed by photographs, either focusing on victims or terrorists.…”

“…In this study, we measured how participants' sympathy, fear, and anger in response to image and text frames emphasizing the obligation to protect suffering victims, versus the risks posed by belligerents, mediate support for military intervention and behavioral intentions toward a foreign conflict. For example, a frame conveying suffering victims should elicit sympathy, and sympathy should encourage helping behavior (Iyer et al, ). A frame emphasizing dangerous militants should evoke fear, and provoke an avoidance response (Lazarus, ).…”

“…This has been shown to influence readers' information processing and recall (e.g., Newhagen & Reeves, ), attitude formation (e.g., Nelson, Oxley, & Clawson, ), and opinions and behavioral intentions (e.g., Schuck & de Vreese, ). However, with a few exceptions (e.g., Arpan et al, 2006; Gibson & Zillmann, ; Iyer, Webster, Hornsey, & Vanman, ; Pfau et al, ), this research has focused on framing effects produced by an news story's text, while the effect that images have on the viewer remains relatively underresearched (e.g., Coleman, ).…”