Study: Trigger warnings don ’t work, they may even backfire

  It’s Official—Trigger Warnings Might Actually Be Harmful (Mdium): “In the era of college student sensitivities to a seemingly ever-increasing list of possible offending material, the use of so-called “trigger warnings” has become commonplace on university campuses. These warnings are usually given at the beginning of a class (or at the beginning of specific sections of a class) to prepare students…” After controlling for various factors, such as sex, race, age, psychiatric history, and political orientation, the researchers found that those participants who received trigger warnings were significantly more likely (compared to those in the control condition) to suggest that they and others would be more vulnerable to emotional distress after experiencing trauma. Although there was no significant effect of which condition participants were in on their general anxiety level change (in response to mildly distressing texts), or their immediate anxiety responses to markedly distressing texts, those who believed that words can cause harm demonstrated a significantly higher level of immediate anxiety to markedly distressing passages (compared to those not holding this belief) in the trigger warning condition, but not in the control.” The Study in Context: Brainnovations Winner Jan Samzelius on why monitoring Typing Cadence may help detect early Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease Firms Race to Find New Ways to Scan Brain Health Solving the B...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain Teasers Cognitive Neuroscience trigger warnings Source Type: blogs