TY - JOUR
T1 - Revisiting the Emotion–Risk Interaction
T2 - Do Anger and Fear Moderate the Impact of Risk on Public Support for War?
AU - Sakstrup, Casper
AU - Hansen, Kristina Jessen
PY - 2021/3/16
Y1 - 2021/3/16
N2 - A key claim in the study of emotions is that anger makes people less responsive to risks, whereas fear makes people more responsive. Although risk is a fundamental concern in the area of military conflict, no studies have directly tested whether anger and fear moderate the impact of risk on public support for war. We test this key claim with casualty risks as our case. Across five experiments (N = 4,559), utilizing well-established treatment material to vary casualty risk and induce emotions, we replicate the central finding that higher casualty risk decreases support for war. Emotions, however, do not moderate the effect of risk. These findings, combined with limitations in existing research, raise debate about the empirical robustness of the prominent emotion–risk interaction as well as widely used emotion inductions.
AB - A key claim in the study of emotions is that anger makes people less responsive to risks, whereas fear makes people more responsive. Although risk is a fundamental concern in the area of military conflict, no studies have directly tested whether anger and fear moderate the impact of risk on public support for war. We test this key claim with casualty risks as our case. Across five experiments (N = 4,559), utilizing well-established treatment material to vary casualty risk and induce emotions, we replicate the central finding that higher casualty risk decreases support for war. Emotions, however, do not moderate the effect of risk. These findings, combined with limitations in existing research, raise debate about the empirical robustness of the prominent emotion–risk interaction as well as widely used emotion inductions.
U2 - 10.1093/ijpor/edaa032
DO - 10.1093/ijpor/edaa032
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0954-2892
VL - 33
SP - 1012
EP - 1023
JO - International Journal of Public Opinion Research
JF - International Journal of Public Opinion Research
IS - 4
ER -