The direct and moderating effects of mass shooting anxiety on political and policy attitudes

“

In the aftermath of mass shootings in the United States, there is now a well-scripted response: public sadness; fear; anxiety and outrage; calls for prayers; and calls for policy change. Politicians appear to repeat a set of well-known ideological responses–liberals press for new gun laws and conservatives push back, often demanding greater expansion of gun use and gun rights. Entrenched ideological division is the result. And within weeks, and sometimes days, political attention drifts elsewhere and little seems to change. However, we suspected that particularly notorious mass shootings may possess an underlying potential for consensus among the public. Based on previous research on emotional responses to threatening events, we anticipated public anxiety after a mass shooting might short-circuit reflexive ideological thinking. In particular, our research explored whether observers who felt more anxious following a mass shooting would be more likely to support restrictive gun laws and support government intervention. We focused on the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history until October 2017. The gunman killed 49 people and wounded 58 others.

”