How Mass Media Communication About Natural Disasters

Compassion SEM 1 Abstract Structural equation modeling was used to assess the plausibility of a conceptual model of compassion. The model specified hypothesized linkages among viewers’ identification with the victims of disasters, perceived suffering, compassion, and helping behavior. Two hundred and three participants viewed a news video of a disaster and completed a survey regarding their reactions to the news segment. Helping behavior was measured as number of hypothetical raffle tickets surrendered in exchange for monetary donation to a disaster-relief charity. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the emotions of sadness, distress, and empathy comprised a threefactor model of compassion. Results further indicated that perceived suffering and identification with the victims are correlated, however, victim identification, mediated by compassion best predicted helping behavior. Among the composite of empathy, distress, and sadness empathy was the best predictor of helping behavior, which supports an altruistic explanation for helping.

Compassion SEM 2 How Mass Media Communication about Natural Disasters Facilitates Helping Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis Introduction December 26, 2004. The earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggers a series of tsunamis that devastate South and Southeast Asia. August 30, 2005. Hurricane Katrina strikes the U.S. Gulf Coast, obliterating hundreds of communities. October 22, 2007. Wildfires erupt in Southern California, forcing evacuations of half a million people and destroying over 1,600 homes. After these and numerous other disasters the mass media were blanketed with coverage from disaster areas. Images of destroyed houses and dead or grieving people filled the nightly news, and the donations poured in. However, the mechanism by which exposure to disaster images translates into financial donation to help the victims remains unclear. This paper develops a structural model of compassion, focusing... [continues]

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