Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544.
Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jun 8;118(23). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2100846118.
Media coverage in the aftermath of mass shootings frequently documents expressions of sadness and outrage shared by millions of Americans. This type of collective emotion can be a powerful force in establishing shared objectives and motivating political actions. Yet, the rise in mass shootings has not translated into widespread legislative progress toward gun control across the nation. This study is designed to shed light on this puzzle by generating causal evidence on the temporal and geographic scale of collective emotional responses to mass shootings. Using a unique continuous survey on Americans' daily emotions without reference to specific events, our empirical strategy compares the daily emotions of residents interviewed after to those interviewed before 31 mass shootings within the same city or state where the event occurred. We found that the emotional impact of mass shootings is substantial, but it is local, short-lived, and politicized. These results suggest that if policy reform efforts are to draw on collective emotional responses to these events, they will likely have to start at the local level in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting.
媒体在大规模枪击事件后的报道经常记录了数百万美国人共同表达的悲伤和愤怒。这种集体情感可以成为确立共同目标和推动政治行动的强大力量。然而，大规模枪击事件的增加并没有转化为全国范围内枪支管制的广泛立法进展。本研究旨在通过在大规模枪击事件的时间和地理规模上产生因果证据，来揭示这一难题。本研究使用一种独特的、针对美国人日常情绪的连续调查，而无需参考特定事件，我们的实证策略比较了在同一城市或州发生的 31 起大规模枪击事件发生前后，对同一城市或州的居民进行的日常情绪调查。我们发现，大规模枪击事件的情绪影响是巨大的，但它是局部的、短暂的和政治化的。这些结果表明，如果政策改革努力要利用这些事件的集体情绪反应，那么它们可能必须在大规模枪击事件发生后的立即在当地一级开始。
