Effects of Terrorism News on Prejudiced Attitude: Analyzing Some Case Studies

Abstract

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have made the whole world unsafe. Through Terror Management Theory (TMT), scholars have tried to make sense of this phenomenon in the context of media and how they are affecting or giving rise to prejudiced attitudes, especially against Pakistanis. In this paper three studies have been conducted to test the effects of news on terrorism on prejudice again outgroups. According to TMT, terrorism news may increase prejudice again outgroups when it confronts viewers with their own mortality. In Study 1, we manipulated news on terrorism and included the murder of filmmaker Van Gogh a real-world factor in the design and tested whether death-related thoughts mediated or moderatded the effecsts of terrorism news on prejudice . Study 2 extended these findings by testing whether the effects on deathrelated thoughts and prejudice are mitigatd by self-esteem. Finally, Study 3 tested the effects of terrorism news on prejudice against outgroups among Pakistani and nonPakistani respondents.Terror Management Theory.