Sun, S.
Mediated disaster and remote care: Linking trauma and resource loss or gain
The study examines how Chinese people respond to Japanese victims in the wake of the great East Japan earthquake in 2011. Employing conservation of resources theory, this study investigated the way in which processing media messages about a natural disaster influences altruistic help. Results showed that different patterns of media information processing (i.e., systematic vs. heuristic) led to different degrees of intrusion and perceived gain/loss of resources. Systematic information processing positively predicted psychological intrusion, perceived gain, and perceived loss of resources. Heuristic information processing, in contrast, only negatively predicted psychological intrusion. Both psychological intrusion and perceived gain of resources positively predicted a Chinese respondent’s intention to help the victims of the earthquake, but perceived loss of resources did not. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to media effects, trauma, and disaster relief.
Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 2018, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 253-262, DOI: 10.4473/TPM25.2.6
