The Influence of Media Messaging on Social Empathy for Perpetrators of Mass Shootings

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the influence of media messaging on individuals' levels of social empathy for perpetrators of mass shootings. The complex relationship between individuals' social empathy levels, media consumption habits, and response to specific media messages offering a social justification for violence aimed at shifting the locus of responsibility away from a perpetrator of a mass shooting was examined. Media messaging after a mass shooting rarely examines the impact of social mechanisms that may motivate these acts of violence, but instead, associates the actions of the shooter with social issues such as mental illness, effects of violent media, and gun control. Media messaging that promotes social empathy for individuals who are at risk of becoming mass shooters may shift public perspective about those individuals potentially creating a public discourse emphasizing the disparities that potential mass shooters experience and may influence the development of effective public prevention policies. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an experimental research design utilizing: the Social Empathy Index (SEI), an assessment tool used to evaluate social empathy; fictional video vignettes depicting the aftermath of a school shooting; and a modified SEI developed by the researcher to assess for social empathy levels specifically for the perpetrator presented in the study. Hierarchical linear regression and a paired t test were used for the data processing and all tests were conducted at the 95% confidence level (alpha = .05). Data revealed that those individuals who viewed video vignettes containing media messaging offering a social justification for the act of violence committed by a mass shooter exhibited greater levels of social empathy toward the perpetrator than individuals who were not offered a social justification, media messaging characterizing the actions of the perpetrator as a deliberate act of violence had no effect on individuals' level of social empathy, media consumptions habits have no influence on levels of social empathy for the perpetrator, and there was no relationship between whether individuals were are offered a social justification for the actions of the perpetrator of a mass shooting and the likelihood of those individuals attributing responsibility to society for the actions of the perpetrator. Results suggest that the social justification provided by the media message may have provided a contextual understanding for the perpetrators actions and aided participants in conceptualizing the life circumstances of the perpetrator, generating a macro-perspective taking response and subsequently increasing the levels of social empathy for the perpetrator. This finding demonstrates that media messaging can increase levels of social empathy for mass shooters when the events are framed in terms of disparities faced by the perpetrator. Further, data revealed that media consumption habits had no influence on levels of social empathy for the perpetrator suggesting that media can increase individuals' levels of social empathy for mass shooters regardless of their consumption habits and potentially transform the perspective of a wide range of media consumers. Characterizing mass shootings as a social problem may increase media advocacy that could potentially increase the resources available to identify potential mass shooters and promote research of the social influences underlying these events.