The Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack in Paris: Follow-up of French Citizens’ Terrorist Threat Perception and Its Aftermath <br/> [L’attaque Terroriste de Charlie Hebdo à Paris : Evolution temporelle de la Perception de la Menace Terroriste et de ses Conséquences auprès des Citoyens Français]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.51Keywords:
Terrorism, threat perception, behavioral changes, social sharing of emotion, socioemotional climateAbstract
Terrorism is one of the most frightful large-scale societal threats nowadays. The January 7, 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris shattered French’s sense of security. The present research investigates French citizen’s (N = 160) terrorist threat perception (personal vs. collective), behavioral changes, social sharing of emotions and perceived socioemotional climate using the social stage model of collective coping with disasters (Pennebaker & Harber, 1993). This study was conducted by a questionnaire at three points of time (i.e., one week, one month and two month) following the attack. The results suggest that terrorist threat perception has not decreased across time at the personal level nor at the collective level. However, the extent of social sharing of emotions and the positive socioemotional climate decreased from the initial emergency stage to the subsequent adaptation stage. Such findings point to the importance of taking temporality into account to provide better understanding of lay people’s responses to terrorism.
Résumé
Le terrorisme est l’une des menaces sociétales à grande échelle les plus effroyables de nos jours. L’attaque terroriste de Charlie Hebdo du 7 janvier 2015 à Paris a ébranlé le sentiment de sécurité des Français. La présente recherche examine la perception de la menace terroriste (personnelle vs. collective), les changements comportementaux, le partage social des émotions et le climat socio-émotionnel perçu auprès des citoyens français (N = 160) en se basant sur le modèle des étapes sociales de coping collectif avec les catastrophes (Pennebaker & Harber, 1993). Cette étude a été conduite par questionnaire à trois points temporels (c.-à-d., une semaine, un mois et deux mois) après l’attaque. Les résultats suggèrent que la perception de la menace terroriste n’a pas diminué à travers le temps, ni au niveau personnel, ni au niveau collectif. Toutefois, l’ampleur du partage social des émotions et du climat socio-émotionnel positif perçu a diminué entre la phase initiale d’urgence et la phase ultérieur d’adaptation. Ces résultats soulignent l’importance de la prise en compte de la temporalité pour une meilleure compréhension des réponses des personnes au terrorisme.
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