Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Psychology
Major Professor
Mark Pezzo, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Sandra Schneider, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Wendy Rote, Ph.D.
Keywords
Anger, Fear, risk perception, Mass shootings, Risk Mitigation
Abstract
Fearful people are pessimistic when it comes to risk judgments and angry people areoptimistic in their risk judgments (Lerner & Keltner, 2000; 2001). Since this has been supported in studies regarding both incidental and integral emotions, the findings from incidental studies have been broadly generalized to answer research questions regarding integral emotions. This generalization was challenged when Ferrer and Ellis (2021) recently found differing effects of incidental and integral emotions of fear and anger. In this study, we examine the effects of these emotions, both incidental and integral to the target risk, on risk perception to help determine if incidental emotion research can, in fact, be generalized to integral questions. Specifically, are the effects of incidental fear and anger the same as the effects of integral fear and anger on perceived risk of gun violence? In this experimental study consisting of six conditions: incidental anger, incidental fear, integral anger, integral fear, and two controls, all participants are presented with an emotion induction text followed by a risk judgment questionnaire. The results indicated that, when integral, fear resulted in higher perceived risk than anger. However, when incidental, there was no significant difference between fear and anger.
Scholar Commons Citation
Laugalis, Gloria, "The Effects of Integral and Incidental Emotions on the Perceived Risk of Gun Violence" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10763
