Inoculating Against Disillusionment: Protecting Student Confidence in Universities Before a Campus Shooting Crisis

ABSTRACT

Although fatal shootings on U.S. college campuses are statistically rare, students are routinely confronted with information suggesting that shootings are rampant and unavoidable. Pre-crisis interventions should address the threat of deceptive claims and restore beliefs that universities are capable of protecting students from violence. This experiment investigated the effectiveness of inoculation-based messages as a complementary approach to pre-crisis strategies for student resilience. Results revealed that, after reading about a simulated shooting, inoculated students had greater certainty and more positive beliefs in a university’s ability to prevent and respond to a shooting. Findings suggest that inoculation can establish a buffer of confidence in an institution’s crisis management infrastructure, even when faced with a shocking tragedy. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Risk and crisis communication
• inoculation theory
• campus shootings
• public confidence
• trust
• pre-crisis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erin B. Hester

Erin B. Hester is Assistant Professor of Integrated Strategic Communication at the University of Kentucky. She studies message-based strategic communication and campaigns to promote a social good with a focus on message-induced affect.

Sarah Geegan

Sarah Geegan (Ph.D., University of Kentucky) is Executive Director of Strategic Communication at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on persuasion, social influence, message design, and social marketing with an applied focus in public relations, health, and crisis.

Bobi Ivanov

Bobi Ivanov (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is Professor of Integrated Strategic Communication at the University of Kentucky. He studies strategic message design, consumer behavior, and strategic communication as applied in various contexts including commercial, health, intercultural, instructional/educational, interpersonal, political, and risk/crisis management.