Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026
06:45
Loneliness Assuaged: Eye-Tracking an Audience Watching Barrage Videos
Published on: May 29, 2020
4.6K
Who watches an ISIS beheading-And why
Sarah Redmond1, Nickolas M Jones1, E Alison Holman2
1Department of Psychological Science.
The American Psychologist
|February 26, 2019
Summary
Many people watched graphic terrorist videos, driven by information seeking and curiosity. However, viewing this violent content may increase fear and distress, potentially aiding terrorist objectives.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Media Studies
- Sociology
Background:
- Graphic media coverage of terrorism is prevalent.
- Understanding audience motivations for viewing such content is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine predictors and motivations for viewing graphic terrorist media.
- To investigate the psychological impact of viewing beheading videos.
Main Methods:
- Mixed-methods design utilizing a longitudinal survey.
- A representative national sample of U.S. residents (N = 3,294) was surveyed.
- Data collected on video viewing, motivations, demographics, and psychological factors.
Main Results:
- Approximately 20% viewed part of an ISIS beheading video; 5% watched entirely.
- Viewing was associated with male gender, unemployment, Christian affiliation, higher TV use, prior violence exposure, and fear of terrorism.
- Watching videos correlated with increased fear and distress two years later.
Conclusions:
- Preexisting fear and victimization may drive engagement with graphic violence.
- Viewing terrorist media can exacerbate fear and distress, potentially serving terrorist aims.
- Attentional vigilance and psychological impacts are key considerations.
More Related Videos
05:32Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos
Published on: December 7, 2018
9.6K
06:05Using Neutron Spin Echo Resolved Grazing Incidence Scattering to Investigate Organic Solar Cell Materials
Published on: January 15, 2014
8.3K
Related Concept Videos
02:46Uncertainty in Measurement: Reading Instruments
51.5K
Counting is the type of measurement that is free from uncertainty, provided the number of objects being counted does not change during the process. Such measurements result in exact numbers. By counting the eggs in a carton, for instance, one can determine exactly how many eggs are there in the carton. Similarly, the numbers of defined quantities are also exact. For example, 1 foot is exactly 12 inches, 1 inch is exactly 2.54 centimeters, and 1 gram is exactly 0.001 kilograms. Quantities...
51.5K
02:30Naturalistic Observations
17.1K
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
17.1K
01:04Social Facilitation
36.6K
Not all intergroup interactions lead to negative outcomes. Sometimes, being in a group situation can improve performance. Social facilitation occurs when an individual performs better when an audience is watching than when the individual performs the behavior alone. This typically occurs when people are performing a task for which they are skilled.
36.6K
01:20Conformity
48.2K
Conformity is the change in a person’s behavior to go along with the group, even if that person does not agree with the group.
48.2K
01:40Archival Research
17.1K
Some researchers gain access to large amounts of data without interacting with a single research participant. Instead, they use existing records to answer various research questions. This type of research approach is known as archival research. Archival research relies on looking at past records or data sets to look for interesting patterns or relationships. For example, a researcher might access the academic records of all individuals who enrolled in college within the past ten years and...
17.1K
01:53Cause and Effect
12.2K
While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
12.2K