Media Exposure to Terrorism and Perception of Immigrants as a Threat: The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Psychophysiological Self-Regulation
Corresponding Author
Enrico Rubaltelli
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Address correspondence to Enrico Rubaltelli, Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy; tel: 0039 049 8276541; enrico.rubaltelli@unipd.it.
Search for more papers by this authorGiulia Priolo
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorSara Scrimin
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorUghetta Moscardino
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Enrico Rubaltelli
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Address correspondence to Enrico Rubaltelli, Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy; tel: 0039 049 8276541; enrico.rubaltelli@unipd.it.
Search for more papers by this authorGiulia Priolo
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorSara Scrimin
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorUghetta Moscardino
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
To better understand how media exposure to terrorism-related images can lead to perceiving immigrants as more threatening, in the present study we manipulated participants’ exposure to media coverage of terrorist attacks and investigated how this may influence people's perception of Arab immigrants. Considering the important role of regulatory abilities when facing stressful events like terrorist attacks, we measured individual differences in both trait emotional intelligence and resting heart rate variability (HRV). Results showed that participants perceived Arab immigrants as more threatening in the media exposure condition than in the control condition. Importantly, there were moderating effects of both trait emotional intelligence and HRV. People with lower trait emotional intelligence or lower HRV at rest felt more threatened in the media exposure condition compared to the control condition, whereas this effect was not observed among participants with higher trait emotional intelligence or higher resting HRV. The present study highlights some of the complexities related to how media exposure to terrorism-related images influences people's reactions to, and evaluations of, an outgroup that is related to the perpetrators of the attacks.
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