Fear bias: the impact of incidental fear on explicit and implicit risk perception

Abstract

In previous research, fear has caused people to increase their perception of risk, regardless of what caused them to feel afraid (defined as incidental fear). Three studies were conducted to test and expand upon on this finding. In Study 1, a video fear manipulation was used to determine whether participants would show greater explicit risk perception, as well as greater implicit fear, as compared to participants who watched a funny film clip. Participants did show an increase in explicit risk perception after watching a frightening film clip, and showed an increase in implicit risk perception as measured by one of three implicit measures. In Study 2, a semi-unique model, the Fear Bias Model, was partially tested. Specifically, the Fear Bias Model predicts that cognitive dissonance may be at least partially responsible for an increase in risk perception when people are afraid. The results from Study 2 partially confirmed this finding. Finally, Study 3 attempted to extend the findings of the previous studies by testing whether incidental fear lead to an increase in bias against Muslims. Watching a frightening video clip, as opposed to a funny or neutral clip, did lead to an increase in implicit fear against Muslims, but not explicit bias. The implications of these findings, along with limitations and future directions, are discussed.

Ph. D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Thomas Ramsey Cain