What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to evaluate the impact of postmortem images on emotional responses and gun control policy support in the context of school shootings.

March 16, 2026Political PsychologyOpen Access

The effects of postmortem pictures in U.S. news coverage of school shootings: Emotional responses, perceived media bias, and gun control policy support

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The aim is to evaluate the impact of postmortem images on emotional responses and gun control policy support in the context of school shootings.
Conducted a preregistered, randomized, controlled online experiment with 1020 adults.
Participants viewed various types of images related to school shootings or a prompt to think about them.
Compared emotional responses and perceptions of media bias across different conditions.
Postmortem images did not change support for gun control policies compared to control conditions.
No evidence was found that these images diminish compassion or traumatize viewers.
Results suggest that postmortem images may even enhance compassion.

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Implication

Experiment evaluates emotional responses and media bias perceptions related to postmortem images in U.S. news coverage of school shootings, suggesting no need for censorship.

Cite This Study

Fishman et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69b79e968166e15b153ac132 https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70111

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Implication

Experiment evaluates emotional responses and media bias perceptions related to postmortem images in U.S. news coverage of school shootings, suggesting no need for censorship.

The effects of postmortem pictures in U.S. news coverage of school shootings: Emotional responses, perceived media bias, and gun control policy support

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

The effects of postmortem pictures in U.S. news coverage of school shootings: Emotional responses, perceived media bias, and gun control policy support

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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