The Psychological Effects of Terrorism are Moderated by Cultural Worldviews [Les Effets Psychologiques du Terrorisme sont Modérés par les Normes Culturelles]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.61Keywords:
Terrorism, threat, cultural worldview, colorblind equality, ingroup bias, terror management theory, laboratory, Terrorisme, menace, normes culturelles, colorblind, biais intergroupe, Théorie du management de la terreur, laboratoireAbstract
Terrorism cannot be easily studied experimentally for obvious reasons. We report the results of a laboratory study (N = 149) testing the effect of cultural worldviews on feelings of threat and hostility toward Muslims in France that include in the design the deadly terrorist attack of January 7th 2015 in Paris as a naturally occurring independent variable. The results replicate past research by showing that in a natural context, people felt more threatened and more hostile toward Muslims after the terrorist attack than before. However, the reverse occurred in an experimental condition that made the French cultural worldview of colorblind equality salient: People felt less threatened and less hostile after the terrorist attack than before. These results provide, for the first time in the context of a real terrorist attack, support for Terror Management Theory’s proposal that cultural worldviews are an effective buffer against terror.
Résumé
Il n’est pas aisé d’étudier les effets du terrorisme expérimentalement pour des raisons évidentes. Nous rapportons les résultats d’une étude de laboratoire (N = 149) testant les effets des normes culturelles sur les sentiments de menace et l’hostilité envers les Musulmans en France qui inclue, dans son plan expérimental, la présence des attentats mortels du 7 Janvier 2015 en tant que variable indépendante naturelle. Les résultats de notre étude répliquent les résultats des recherches passées en montrant que les participants se sentaient plus menacés et ressentaient plus d’hostilité envers les Musulmans après les attentats qu’avant. Cependant, lorsque la norme culturelle de l’égalité citoyenne était rendue saillante, les participants se sentaient moins menacés et ressentaient moins d’hostilité envers les Musulmans après les attentats qu’avant. Ces résultats fournissent, pour la première fois dans un contexte réel d’attaque terroriste, un soutien au postulat avancé par la Théorie de la Gestion de la Terreur selon lequel les normes culturelles peuvent servir de bouclier psychologique face à la terreur
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