Self-construal and natural disaster coverage: how self perception influences psychological intrusion and concern for others

Abstract

Individuals can be personally affected, and motivated to empathize with victims, when viewing television coverage of natural disasters. This study examined how individuals' independent and interdependent self-construals influence how they view and respond to disaster coverage. The findings demonstrated that interdependent and independent self-construals had significant effects on individuals' self-reported psychological intrusion and concern for victims. Additionally, TV viewing motives (i.e., instrumental and ritualized) were found to mediate the relationship between interdependent self-construal and personal responses.

Keywords:

• self-construal
• psychological intrusion
• caring
• natural disaster
• China
• media motive

Acknowledgement

The first author would like to thank the research sponsorship of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, KBH 3353557.