TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Using a bug-killing paradigm to understand how social validation and invalidation affect the distress of killing
JO  - Personality and social psychology bulletin
A1  - Webber, David
A1  - Schimel, Jeff
A1  - Martens, Andy
A1  - Hayes, Joseph
A1  - Faucher, Erik H.
SP  - 470
EP  - 481
VL  - 39
IS  - 4
N2  - Clinical evidence demonstrates that killing among soldiers at war predicts their experience of long-lasting trauma/distress. Killing leads to distress, in part, due to guilt experienced from violating moral standards. Because social consensus shapes what actions are perceived as moral and just, we hypothesized that social validation for killing would reduce guilt, whereas social invalidation would exacerbate it. To examine this possibility in a laboratory setting, participants were led to kill bugs in an "extermination task." Perceptions of social validation/invalidation were manipulated through the supposed actions of a confederate (Study 1) or numerous previous participants (Study 2) that agreed or refused to kill bugs. Distress measures focused on trauma-related guilt. Higher levels of distress were observed when individuals perceived their actions as invalidated as opposed to when they perceived their actions as socially validated. Implications for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced by soldiers and the paradoxical nature of publicly expressing antiwar sentiments are discussed.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0146-1672
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167213477891
ID  - ref1
ER  -