Psychological parameters of mediatraumatization: results of focus group studies
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Abstract
Relevance. Identifying the peculiarities and dynamics of media consumption of information about the events of the war by Ukrainians in the conditions of a long war is necessary for understanding ways to reduce stress and prevent mental health problems. Despite the existing studies of media traumatization, the specifics of the impact of war coverage on vulnerable categories of the population of Ukraine have not been studied.
Purpose. The purpose of the article is to present the results of the first stage of the study of the most traumatic elements of media images of war based on the study of media consumption practices during the war, emotional reactions to media coverage of war events and parameters of media images.
Methods and methodology. The focus group interview method was used, 60 people were interviewed in February-March 2024 from 4 vulnerable social groups: families of combatants, internally displaced persons, citizens with experience of military migration abroad and subsequent repatriation, and financially disadvantaged population. The model of differential sensitivity to media effects was used for the analysis.
Results. During the war, all groups have a tendency to reduce media consumption of war-related content, which is regulated depending on the strength of their own emotional reactions (the stronger the reaction, the more noticeable the reduction in consumption of the content that causes it); the most traumatic characteristics of media production are the video format of messages, the contrasts explained through the comparison of images of pre-war and present life, the unexpectedness of the sudden appearance of visual images of war without the ability to control;
Conclusions and prospects. The moral dimension of media traumatization is the feeling of injustice during media consumption of new content; specific media triggers are mediated by personal identification processes; part of the experience of media consumption remains poorly reflected and mixed. Psychological parameters of war images are on three dimensions: power, modality and dominance (controlling). The perspective of the experimental study is determined by its orientation on the practical final result, which should be the reduction of the risks of media traumatization through the development of recommendations for the education system and media education, as well as psychological recommendations in the direction of regulation and self-regulation of the media industry.
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