An attack against us all?
- Author(s)
- Helena Knupfer, Jörg Matthes
- Abstract
Right-wing terrorism (RWT) poses an increasing threat to Western societies, with perpetrators targeting diverse members of society. We investigated the affective and attitudinal outcomes of exposure to news about RWT, depending on the victims’ religious affiliation (Christian vs. Muslim). Results of a quota-based experiment in [Austria; predominantly non-Muslim] (N = 315) revealed no direct effects of the victims’ religious affiliation on affective and attitudinal outcomes. However, mediation analyses suggest that, compared to Muslim victims, Christian victims elicit higher perceived similarity, which in turn, impacts compassion. Similarity and compassion then significantly predict affective and attitudinal outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Communication
- Journal
- Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
- Volume
- 46
- Pages
- 2400-2425
- No. of pages
- 26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2021.1923623
- Publication date
- 06-2021
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 508007 Communication science, 508014 Journalism
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality, Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Political Science, Safety Research
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/an-attack-against-us-all(023d2c71-9f71-4553-a9e3-53be2ce621b7).html