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You’ve likely encountered trigger warnings on social media posts or seen the familiar cautionary announcement before certain TV shows, such as 'viewer discretion is advised.' These warnings are also increasingly common in educational settings. A recent study has reignited the discussion over whether these warnings serve a meaningful purpose or if they may even be counterproductive. Let’s explore what we’ve learned about trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings may not significantly improve the ease of engaging with sensitive material
In a recent study, participants were asked to read a story or watch a video containing potentially traumatic content. The study involved college students and Amazon mTurk workers, some of whom received a trigger warning beforehand, while others did not. The results revealed that the warnings were only 'minimally helpful,' with both groups expressing similar emotional reactions to the content they experienced.
Trigger warnings should not be seen as replacements for therapy.
Trigger warnings serve more than just helping readers engage with content more comfortably. One of their primary roles is to offer individuals the choice to avoid reading something they might find distressing. In a recent study focused on trigger warnings in university settings, it was found that students are often expected to read the content despite these warnings. As Shannon Palus pointed out in Slate, sidestepping anxiety-inducing material may actually worsen anxiety, raising the possibility that trigger warnings could do more harm than good.
It's vital to note that trigger warnings should never be mistaken for a form of therapy. They are not designed to replace professional mental health care, which remains difficult to access, particularly for students trying to maintain privacy. This raises the question: do trigger warnings become especially crucial or possibly more damaging in this context? Unfortunately, we lack enough data to draw a definitive conclusion.
The scientific community's understanding of trigger warnings remains incomplete.
There are plenty of opinions about trigger warnings, but robust scientific evidence is scarce. According to the authors of the recent study, theirs is one of only two studies directly investigating the impact of trigger warnings. Given the complexity of the issue, one or two studies cannot provide conclusive answers, and their research is limited in various ways.
The authors point out that the stories and films they examined might not have been distressing enough to cause any noticeable impact from the trigger warnings. The two stories featured in the study, Stephen Crane's 'A Dark-Brown Dog' and Ray Bradbury's 'The Veldt,' are indeed tragic. In total, two children and an animal die, but they aren’t necessarily as terrifying as one might imagine from the concept of trigger warnings.
The studies didn’t encompass a broad spectrum of participants; the majority were just college students and mTurk workers. While the researchers inquired about participants' traumatic experiences and discovered that many reported having encountered significant events, the study didn’t focus on individuals with PTSD or related conditions like anxiety or depression. Additionally, it did not test trigger warnings in the context of sexual violence, which is frequently cited as a situation where such warnings might be necessary.
Moreover, the study didn’t provide any guidance on how individuals should respond to the trigger warnings, such as using specific coping strategies. The warnings themselves were vague about the content of the stories or clips, leaving much unexplored. Of course, this is just one study, and while it may not cover everything, it's premature to completely discard the concept of trigger warnings based on this single piece of research.
Trigger warnings aren’t solely for trauma-related issues, though.
The term 'trigger warning' originated from conditions like PTSD, where certain stimuli can make the body and mind react as though the trauma is happening in the present moment. However, the term has now diverged quite a bit from its original meaning. For example, if someone without PTSD reads a story in which an animal is harmed and feels a bit down as a result (as was the case in the recent study), that doesn’t quite align with the trauma-induced response that the term 'trigger warning' was initially meant to address.
While this study doesn’t definitively conclude whether trigger warnings are beneficial or harmful, it does offer additional insights into their possible advantages and drawbacks. Furthermore, it highlights several key questions that future studies will need to address.
