In the Face of Trauma, Distance Helps People Find Clarity, Study Shows

AUSTIN, Texas — In the wake of tragedies such as the Sandy Hook school shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing and the devastating explosion in the Texas town of West, people are often left asking, "Why did this happen?". According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, the best way to make sense of tragedy is to turn away from detailed reports in the news and social media and adopt a more simplified understanding of the event. The study, published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science , shows that in the wake of a negative event, people are more likely to find clarity by considering the larger picture. Such a firm understanding helps to diffuse negative emotions and the feeling of a lack of control, says Jae-Eun Namkoong, marketing graduate student in Red McCombs School of Business and lead author of the study. "Certainty about what causes tragic events not only helps people feel better, but also gives them a sense of direction for action," Namkoong says. "People launching petitions for government actions, constituents voting for policies, or even consumers boycotting against products that malfunction are all motivated by their certainty of the causes behind negative events." As part of the study, the researchers presented 196 participants with information about the Sandy Hook shooting and altered their sense of time by framing the incident around different reference points. For example, the shooting appears to be much more recent when compared with the Sept.