Bush v. Bin Laden: Effect of State Emotion on Perceived Threat is Mediated by Emotion Towards the Threat Agent (Bush vs. Ben Laden: l'Effet de l'Emotion etat sur la Menace Percue est Mediatisees par l'Emotion vis-a-vis de l'Agent Menacant)
Abstract
The authors conducted an experiment to examine the effect of specific (fear and anger) and global emotional states on perceptions of threat posed by either George W. Bush or Osama Bin Laden. Findings revealed a case of moderated mediation: For participants who evaluated Bush, negative state emotion directly predicted perceived threat and was fully mediated by negative emotion evoked by Bush. For participants who evaluated Bin Laden, however, negative state emotion did not predict perceived threat. The authors discuss implications of the findings for theories that postulate an effect of emotion on risk perceptions and for understanding threat perception in the terrorism context.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA535293
Entities
People
- David R Mandel
- Oshin Vartanian
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada