Het Leed van de Ander

In this thesis the difference in the reaction of the audience is explored when they are confronted by images of human suffering caused by natural disasters. The images are categorized in western and non-western suffering and the suffering of an individual or a group; resulting in a 2x2 between-subjects research design. Theories of media and psychology studies are used. The experimental setting in which the research is conducted thereby combines these two fields. It is argued that the reaction of the audience does differ, after they have seen mediated suffering. Feelings of compassion, distance, guilt, shame, powerlessness and the willingness to donate are examined by means of a questionnaire that is developed using the E-prime program. The participants were confronted with an image of human suffering accompanied with the context of the image. The results show that women have more compassion than men after seeing mediated suffering. Men feel more distance from the suffering other, they take less time to watch and read about the suffering other and they feel less intention to donate to them. Age does not contribute to differences in reaction when confronted by mediated suffering. On the other hand, the results show that the message itself can contribute to differences in reaction. The audience feels more compassion for individual suffering than for the suffering of groups and they feel more powerless when confronted with individual suffering than group suffering. There seems to be no straightforward difference in emotion between western or non-western suffering, however the western audience does feel more compassion for the western other than for the non-western other caused by feelings of distance. They also take more time to look at and read about the suffering western other than the non-western other. Future research on the audience’s reaction on the suffering other is recommended, because it can improve humanitarian reporting. Media and psychology studies could benefit from each others knowledge in this specific field. Although the sample used in the current study is valuable because of their intensive media use, a more diverse sample which resembles the population is recommended for future research.