DOCSLIB.ORG

Werther Effect’ Fact Or Fantasy?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Werther Effect’ Fact Or Fantasy? The ‘Werther Effect’ Fact or Fantasy? Media Contagion and Suicide in the Internet Age: Critical evaluation, theoretical re-conceptualisation and empirical investigation DPhil Research Thesis by Paul Marsden - July 2000 Graduate Research Centre in the Social Sciences University of Sussex 2 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been submitted, either in the same or different form, to this or any other University for a degree. …………………………………………………………………………. 3 University of Sussex Paul Marsden DPhil Submission The Werther Effect: Fact or Fantasy? Media Contagion and Suicide in Internet Age: Critical evaluation, theoretical reconceptualization and empirical investigation Summary This project explores a controversial idea known as the Werther Effect. The Werther Effect suggests that media representations of suicide may have some influence on the suicide of those exposed to them such that suicide becomes more likely. The report begins with a conceptual clarification of this idea of media suicide contagion and then explores the empirical plausibility of the putative phenomenon through a critical review of relevant research evidence. It is argued that in addition to methodological problems, the absence of any theory to guide research and interpret data has rendered findings less than compelling. A theoretical model of the Werther Effect is therefore developed through a conceptual integration of aspects of social cognition theory, framing theory and meme theory. The socio-cognitive model presented here is based on the possible action of priming and modelling mechanisms in the bounding of meaning and decisions. Two empirical studies illustrate indirectly how these mechanisms might allow media representations to inform suicide choice. A third study seeks to operationalise investigation more directly and does so by developing a new online grounded research tool that generates structured insight into the meaning of suicide for particular groups in the form of memetic networks. A popular suicide representation available over the Internet, the suicide note of Kurt Cobain of the rock group Nirvana, is then negatively framed by using the ‘social mindscapes’ of suicide that are outputted by these memetic networks. A novel use of Internet ‘frames technology’ allows for a web-based study to investigate any influence of the framed and non-framed versions of the suicide note to proceed without incurring any increased risk of contagion for participants. In conclusion, it is argued that this study provides both theoretical and empirical reasons to suggest that media representations of suicide could have some influence on a person’s suicidality. Key words: contagion, framing, grounded research, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, meme, memetics, modelling, priming, social cognition, social contagion, socio-cognitive, social mindscapes, suicide, suicide contagion, web-research, Werther Effect. 4 Table of Contents Table of Figures ..................................................................................................................................7 Preface ................................................................................................................................................8 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 10 1.1 Social Research, Sociology or Social Psychology? .................................................................... 13 1.2 Structure, Summary and Proposed Contributions of the Report .............................................. 15 1.3 Clarification of the Research Problem ..................................................................................... 21 1.3.1 The Concept of Media Contagion ...................................................................................... 21 1.3.2 The Concept of Suicide ...................................................................................................... 26 1.3.3 The Concept of Media Suicide Contagion .......................................................................... 32 1.3.4 The Historical Context of Media Suicide Contagion ........................................................... 34 1.4 Media Suicide Contagion: The Problem of Evidence ............................................................... 36 2.0 The Operationalisation of Media Suicide Contagion Research..................................................... 41 2.1 Archival Research ................................................................................................................... 41 2.1.1 Some Problems with Archive-based Quasi-Experimental Evidence in Media Suicide Contagion research ...................................................................................................................................... 43 2.1.2 Triangulating Archive-based Quasi-Experiments: The Research Corpus of Sociologist D. P. Phillips ........................................................................................................................................ 45 2.1.3 Covert Suicides and Contagion ........................................................................................... 50 2.1.4 Problems with Phillips’ Archive-based Quasi-Experiments .................................................. 54 2.2 Time-Series Analysis of Archival Data ..................................................................................... 57 2.2.1 Additional Problems with Time-series Analysis of Archival Data: Contradictions and Bogus Contagion ................................................................................................................................... 59 2.3 Survey Research ..................................................................................................................... 60 2.4 Experimental Research ........................................................................................................... 64 3.0 The Empirical Case for Media Suicide Contagion: an Interim Verdict and some Recommendations72 4.0 A Proposed Contribution to a Theory of Media Suicide Contagion .............................................. 81 4.1 Of Imitation, Hypodermic Needles, Mind Viruses and Selfish Suicide Memes ......................... 81 4.2 Social Cognition – a Humanistic Interpretation ....................................................................... 95 4.2.1 Disinhibition and Modelling ............................................................................................... 96 4.2.2 Disinhibition as Modelling .................................................................................................. 99 4.3 Media Contagion by Modelling: An Empirical Investigation .................................................. 101 4.3.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 101 4.3.2 Media Contagion by Modelling: A Dilemma..................................................................... 103 4.3.3 Research Objectives ......................................................................................................... 106 4.3.4 Materials and Method ...................................................................................................... 107 4.3.5 Participants and Recruitment ........................................................................................... 107 4.3.6 Results ............................................................................................................................. 108 5 4.3.7 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 109 4.4 Priming and Media Priming .................................................................................................. 116 4.5 Media Suicide Contagion by Priming: An initial empirical investigation ................................ 126 4.5.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 126 4.5.2 Research Objectives ......................................................................................................... 127 4.5.3 Materials and Method ...................................................................................................... 127 4.5.4 Participants and Recruitment ........................................................................................... 128 4.5.5 Results ............................................................................................................................. 128 4.5.6 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 129 4.6 Developing the Conceptual Model of Priming ....................................................................... 130 4.7 A Proposed Conceptual Integration: Priming, Meaning and Framing .................................... 132 5.0 Presentation of a Grounded Research Tool – Generating Memetic Networks ............................. 138 5.1 Associative Techniques in Research ...................................................................................... 138 5.2 The Internet as an Associative Network ................................................................................. 142 5.4 Generating a Social Mindscape of Suicide ............................................................................. 157 5.4.1 Results
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte, Gavin Fairbairn & Melanie Lang
    Edited by Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte, Gavin Fairbairn & Melanie Lang Bullying and the Abuse of Power Critical Issues Series Editors Dr Robert Fisher Dr Daniel Riha Advisory Board Dr Alejandro Cervantes-Carson Dr Peter Mario Kreuter Professor Margaret Chatterjee Martin McGoldrick Dr Wayne Cristaudo Revd Stephen Morris MiraCrouch ProfessorJohnParry Dr Phil Fitzsimmons Paul Reynolds Professor Asa Kasher Professor Peter Twohig Owen Kelly Professor S Ram Vemuri Revd Dr Kenneth Wilson, O.B.E A Critical Issues research and publications project. http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/ The Ethos Hub ‘Bullying and the Abuse of Power’ 2010 Bullying and the Abuse of Power Edited by Kristof K. P. Vanhoutte, Gavin Fairbairn & Melanie Lang Inter-Disciplinary Press Oxford, United Kingdom © Inter-Disciplinary Press 2010 http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/id-press/ The Inter-Disciplinary Press is part of Inter-Disciplinary.Net – a global network for research and publishing. The Inter-Disciplinary Press aims to promote and encourage the kind of work which is collaborative, innovative, imaginative, and which provides an exemplar for inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Inter-Disciplinary Press. Inter-Disciplinary Press, Priory House, 149B Wroslyn Road, Freeland, Oxfordshire. OX29 8HR, United Kingdom. +44 (0)1993 882087 ISBN: 978-1-84888-045-0 First published in the United Kingdom in eBook format in 2010. First Edition. Table of Contents Introduction vii Kristof K.P. Vanhoutte, Gavin Fairbairn & Melanie Lang Part 1: The Source of Bullying Sovereign Authority or Leviathan Bully? Kojève on 3 Distinguishing the Use and Abuse of Power Murray S.Y.
    [Show full text]
  • North American Journal of Psychology, 1999. PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 346P.; Published Semi-Annually
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 449 388 CG 029 765 AUTHOR McCutcheon, Lynn E., Ed. TITLE North American Journal of Psychology, 1999. PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 346p.; Published semi-annually. AVAILABLE FROM NAJP, 240 Harbor Dr., Winter Garden, FL 34787 ($35 per annual subscription). Tel: 407-877-8364. PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT North American Journal of Psychology; vl n1-2 1999 EDRS PRICE MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Psychology; *Research Tools; *Scholarly Journals; *Social Science Research ABSTRACT "North American Journal of Psychology" publishes scientific papers of general interest to psychologists and other social scientists. Articles included in volume 1 issue 1 (June 1999) are: "Generalist Looks at His Career in Teaching: Interview with Dr. Phil Zimbardo"; "Affective Information in Videos"; "Infant Communication"; "Defining Projective Techniques"; "Date Selection Choices in College Students"; "Study of the Personality of Violent Children"; "Behavioral and Institutional Theories of Human Resource Practices"; "Self-Estimates of Intelligence:"; "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going"; "Behaviorism and Cognitivism in Learning Theory"; "On the Distinction between Behavioral Contagion, Conversion Conformity, and Compliance Conformity"; "Promoting Altruism in Troubled Youth"; The Influence of insecurity on Exchange and Communal Intimates"; "Height as Power in Women"; "Moderator Effects of Managerial Activity Inhibition on the Relation between Power versus Affiliation Motive Dominance and Econdmic Efficiency";
    [Show full text]
  • It's Contagious: Rethinking a Metaphor Dialogically
    Article Culture & Psychology 2015, Vol. 21(3) 359–379 It’s contagious: ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav Rethinking a metaphor DOI: 10.1177/1354067X15601190 dialogically cap.sagepub.com Zachary J Warren Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA Se´amus A Power University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Abstract ‘‘Contagion’’ appears frequently in peer-reviewed articles and in popular media to explain the spread of ideas, feelings, and behaviors. In the context of social science, however, we argue that this metaphor leads to magical thinking and should be described as a simile, rather than a metaphor. We review literature on ‘‘social contagion’’ using the dialogical paradigm and conclude that peer-reviewed claims tend to correspond with imagined realities from epidemiology rather than social science, including assumptions of passive and linear microbial spread, as well as pathology. We explore case studies on the spread of laughter, riot behavior, and ‘‘mass psychogenic illness,’’ and find that social contagion involves social meanings negotiated at the level of persons and groups that are uncharacteristic to the spread of diseases. Dialogism is presented as a correction to the epidemiological paradigm. Keywords Dialogical theory, contagion theory, psychogenic illness, spread, metaphor, riot behavior, laughter, Bakhtin, Afghanistan, dialogism Introduction In February 2012, the Le Roy School District in Le Roy, New York, reported a ‘‘twitching disease’’ that affected over a dozen teen girls and at least one adult. The New York Department of Health launched an investigation in search of envir- onmental causes, and environmental activist Erin Brochovich sent a team Corresponding author: Se´amus A Power, Department of Comparative Human Development, Social Sciences Research Building, Office 103, 1126 East 59th St, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture, Context and Mental Health of Somali Refugees
    Culture, context and mental health of Somali refugees A primer for staff working in mental health and psychosocial support programmes I © UNHCR, 2016. All rights reserved Reproduction and dissemination for educational or other non- commercial purposes is authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes, or translation for any purpose, is prohibited without the written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Public Health Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at [email protected] This document is commissioned by UNHCR and posted on the UNHCR website. However, the views expressed in this document are those of the authors and not necessarily those of UNHCR or other institutions that the authors serve. The editors and authors have taken all reasonable precautions to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees be liable for damages arising from its use. Suggested citation: Cavallera, V, Reggi, M., Abdi, S., Jinnah, Z., Kivelenge, J., Warsame, A.M., Yusuf, A.M., Ventevogel, P. (2016). Culture, context and mental health of Somali refugees: a primer for staff working in mental health and psychosocial support programmes. Geneva, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Cover photo: Dollo Ado, South East Ethiopia / Refugees are waiting for non-food items like plastic sheets and jerry cans.
    [Show full text]
  • Associative Diffusion and the Emergence of Cultural Variation
    Beyond “Social Contagion”: Associative Diffusion and the Emergence of Cultural Variation∗ Amir Goldberg Stanford University Sarah K. Stein Stanford University July 16, 2018 Abstract Network models of diffusion predominantly think about cultural variation as a prod- uct of social contagion. But culture does not spread like a virus. In this paper, we pro- pose an alternative explanation which we refer to as associative diffusion. Drawing on two insights from research in cognition—that meaning inheres in cognitive associations between concepts, and that such perceived associations constrain people’s actions— we propose a model wherein, rather than beliefs or behaviors per-se, the things being transmitted between individuals are perceptions about what beliefs or behaviors are compatible with one another. Conventional contagion models require an assumption of network segregation to explain cultural variation. In contrast, we demonstrate that the endogenous emergence of cultural differentiation can be entirely attributable to social cognition and does not necessitate a clustered social network or a preexisting division into groups. Moreover, we show that prevailing assumptions about the effects of network topology do not hold when diffusion is associative. ∗Direct all correspondence to Amir Goldberg: [email protected]; 650-725-7926. We thank Rembrand M. Koning, Daniel A. McFarland, Paul DiMaggio, Sarah Soule, John-Paul Ferguson, Jesper Sørensen, Glenn Carroll, Sameer B. Srivastava, Jerker Denrell, Robert Gibbons and participants of the MIT conference on Categories and Shared Mental Models for helpful comments and suggestions. The usual disclaimer applies. Introduction Contemporary societies exhibit remarkable and persistent cultural differences on issues as varied as musical taste and gun control.
    [Show full text]
  • Information to Users
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter 6ce, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Infoimation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 FICTION, REALITY, AND FEMALE SUICIDE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Elizabeth L.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Irvine UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Irvine UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title e-Rudeness at Work: The Impact of Rude Email on Employee Performance Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2192w2h7 Author McCarthy, Kimberly Anne Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE e-Rudeness at Work: The Impact of Rude Email on Employee Performance DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Management by Kimberly McCarthy Dissertation Committee: Professor Jone Pearce, Chair Professor (Emeritus) Lyman Porter Professor Gerardo Okhuysen Assistant Professor Christopher Bauman 2014 © 2014 Kimberly A. McCarthy DEDICATION TO My boys “Do what makes you happy, be with who makes you smile, laugh as much as you breathe, and love as long as you live.” ― Rachel Ann Nunes For my sons, James and Drew, who make me laugh as much as I breathe, and for my husband Tom, who I will love as long as I live. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................vi LIST OF FIGURES.....................................................................................................................vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................viii CURRICULUM VITAE...............................................................................................................x
    [Show full text]
  • Ancestral Calling O Practical Challenges About Cultural Syndromes in SA Workplace O Recommended Way Forward for Consideration and Inclusion
    Practical Challenges That Are Posed By ‘Cultural Syndromes’ Within The EAP Context In South Africa Dr Fundile Nyati 20th September 2019 1 Presentation Outline o Introduction o About DSM V o Culture bound Syndromes Vs Cultural Syndromes o About Mass Hysteria o About Ancestral Calling o Practical Challenges About Cultural Syndromes in SA workplace o Recommended Way Forward For Consideration and Inclusion Significant Advance From DSM 4-TR Concept of Culture-Bound Syndromes 2 MY MASTERS RESEARCH THESIS Team Member of Global PsyMap-ZN Researchers For My PhD Studies With UKZN 3 Culture Bound Syndromes To Cultural Syndromes • DSM-5 was launched on 18th May 2013, replacing DSM-4TR. • Ground breaking leadership work by Dr Roberto Lewis- Fernandez, leader of DSM 5 Study Group on Cultural Syndromes. (Cultural Psychiatrist, Columbia University, USA) 4 Defining ‘Culture Bound Syndromes’ (DSM - 4TR) In Medicine and Anthropology, a Culture Bound Syndrome or Folk Illness is a combination of Psychiatric and Somatic symptoms that are considered to be a recognisable disease only within a specific society or culture. 5 Defining Cultural Syndromes DSM-5 Cluster of symptoms and attributions that tend to co-occur amongst individuals in specific cultural groups, communities, or context, and these are recognised as coherent patterns of experience. Significant Advance From DSM 4-TR Concept of Culture-Bound Syndromes 6 EMIC View Of Cultural Syndromes o More inclusive range of psychopathology across the globe, and not just particular constructs of the West (US, Western Europe or Canada). o Includes Cultural Concepts of Distress (CCD’s) to enhance the validity and clinical usefulness in diagnostic practice.
    [Show full text]
  • When the Victim Is a Woman
    Chapter Four 113 When the Victim is a Woman he demographics of armed violence are and suffering, especially given that violence T often described in general terms. Men— against women seldom occurs as an isolated especially young men—are determined incident. It is often the culmination of escalating to be most likely to kill and be killed. Women, it aggressions that in some cases lead to fatal out- is often said, are affected in different ways: as comes. Moreover, when a woman is killed, there victims, survivors, and often as single heads of are also frequently indirect casualties; perpetra- households. Yet on closer inspection these crude tors sometimes commit suicide while also taking WHEN THE VICTIM IS A WOMAN generalizations are found wanting. This chapter the lives of others, including children, witnesses, unpacks global patterns of armed violence directed and bystanders. Many women who endure abusive against women. It focuses on ‘femicide’—the and violent relationships also commit suicide in killing of a woman—as well as sexual violence order to end their misery. The sharp increase in committed against women during and following reported suicide and self-immolation among Afghan 1 armed conflict. women is attributed to severe forms of psycho- logical, physical, and sexual violence, including 2 Men generally represent a disproportionately forced marriage (MOWA, 2008, pp. 12–13). high percentage of the victims of homicide, while 3 women constitute approximately 10 per cent of The violent killing of any individual is a tragedy 4 homicide victims in Mexico, 23 per cent in the with traumatic knock-on effects; it generates far- United States, and 29 per cent in Australia (INEGI, reaching repercussions that reflect the victim’s 5 2009; FBI, 2010; ABS, 2009).
    [Show full text]
  • Creating Contagious: How Social Networks and Item Characteristics Combine to Drive Persistent Social Epidemics
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Marketing Papers Wharton Faculty Research 2010 Creating Contagious: How Social Networks and Item Characteristics Combine to Drive Persistent Social Epidemics Andrew T. Stephen Jonah A. Berger University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/marketing_papers Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Marketing Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Social Influence and oliticalP Communication Commons, and the Social Media Commons Recommended Citation Stephen, A. T., & Berger, J. A. (2010). Creating Contagious: How Social Networks and Item Characteristics Combine to Drive Persistent Social Epidemics. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/ marketing_papers/308 This is an unpublished manuscript. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/marketing_papers/308 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Creating Contagious: How Social Networks and Item Characteristics Combine to Drive Persistent Social Epidemics Abstract Why do certain cultural items capture persistent collective interest while others languish? This research integrates psychological and sociological perspectives to provide deeper insight into social epidemics. First, we develop a psychologically plausible individuallevel model of social transmission behavior. We then situate this model in a social network and perform a series of simulations where we vary different item- and networkrelated characteristics in an experimental setting. The results (1) demonstrate how item and network characteristics combine to drive persistent collective enthusiasm and (2) shed light on the underlying mechanisms through which such social epidemics occur. Interest in most items or products naturally decays over time, so item characteristics (e.g., talkability) and the network positions of early consumers are critical for bolstering consumer enthusiasm.
    [Show full text]
  • Virality : Contagion Theory in the Age of Networks / Tony D
    VIRALITY This page intentionally left blank VIRALITY TONY D. SAMPSON UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS Minneapolis London Portions of chapters 1 and 3 were previously published as “Error-Contagion: Network Hypnosis and Collective Culpability,” in Error: Glitch, Noise, and Jam in New Media Cultures, ed. Mark Nunes (New York: Continuum, 2011). Portions of chapters 4 and 5 were previously published as “Contagion Theory beyond the Microbe,” in C Theory: Journal of Theory, Technology, and Culture (January 2011), http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=675. Copyright 2012 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sampson, Tony D. Virality : contagion theory in the age of networks / Tony D. Sampson. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8166-7004-8 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8166-7005-5 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Imitation. 2. Social interaction. 3. Crowds. 4. Tarde, Gabriel, 1843–1904. I. Title. BF357.S26 2012 302'.41—dc23 2012008201 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Dedicated to John Stanley Sampson (1960–1984) This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction 1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Contagion of Vasovagal Reactions in the Blood Collection Clinic: a Possible Example of Mass Psychogenic Illness
    Health Psychology © 2014 American Psychological Association 2014, Vol. 33, No. 7, 639–645 0278-6133/14/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000053 Social Contagion of Vasovagal Reactions in the Blood Collection Clinic: A Possible Example of Mass Psychogenic Illness Blaine Ditto, Nelson Byrne, Crystal Holly, and Saharnaz Balegh McGill University Objective: Observing or hearing about illness in another person can lead to reports of similar symptoms. Reports can occasionally be widespread. However, it has been difficult to document whether this is the result of genuine illness or the expression of anxiety with physical terminology. This study examined the effects of being able to see another blood donor experience vasovagal symptoms. Methods: Data were collected in mobile university blood collection clinics. Bedside research assistants coded whether the donor was able or not able to see another donor being treated for vasovagal symptoms. Dependent variables included subjective vasovagal symptoms indicated on the Blood Donation Reactions Inventory (BDRI) and the need for treatment oneself. Given the population of inexperienced donors, many (26% of the 1,209 participants) were able to see another donor treated for symptoms. Results: Being able to see another donor treated was associated with higher scores on the BDRI and an increased likelihood of treatment for vasovagal symptoms oneself. However, this was limited to non-first-time blood donors, perhaps because of higher levels in first-time donors (ceiling effects) or greater attention to the environment in less “overwhelmed” repeat donors. In general, donors who were able to see another react rated themselves as less relaxed and had smaller increases in heart rate.
    [Show full text]