To shoot or not to shoot: experiments on moral injury in the context of West Bank checkpoints and COVID-19 restrictions enforcement. Issue 1 (31st December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hertz, Uri; Snider, Keren L. G.; Levy, Adi; Canetti, Daphna; Gross, Michael L.
• Is Part Of: European journal of psychotraumatology. Volume 13:Issue 1(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12-31
• Subjects: Moral injury -- moral emotions -- political ideology -- lab-model -- exposure to terrorism -- emotional distress; Daño moral -- Emociones morales -- Ideología política -- Modelo de laboratorio -- exposición a Terrorismo -- malestar emocional; 道德伤害 -- 道德情感 -- 暴露于恐怖主义 -- 情绪困扰 -- 政治意识形态 -- 实验室模型 -- 恐怖主义; Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Periodicals; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; 616.8521
• DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2021.2013651
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2000-8198

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background: Does exposure to events that transgress accepted norms, such as killing innocent civilians, prompt the psychological and emotional consequences of moral injury among soldiers? Moral injury is associated with negative emotions such as guilt, shame and anger, and a sense of betrayal and is identified among veterans following exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIE). Objective: We experimentally investigate how PMIE characteristics affect the intensity of MI and related negative moral emotions in participants with varied military experience. Method: We conducted three controlled, randomized experiments. Each exposed male respondents with active combat experience (Study 1) and varied military experience (Study 2) to four textual vignettes describing PMIE (child/adult and innocent/non-innocent suspect) that transpire at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank. In study 3, we exposed participants to two scenarios, where descriptions of police officers enforcing COVID 19 restrictions confronted lockdown violators. Results: Participants assigned to vignettes describing killing an innocent civilian exhibited more intense levels of shame and guilt than those assigned to vignettes describing killing a person carrying a bomb. Religiosity and political ideology were strong predictors of guilt and shame in response to descriptions of checkpoint shootings. These effects disappeared in Study 3, suggesting that political ideology drives MI in intergroup conflict. Conclusions: Background and PMIE-related characteristics affect the development of moral injury. Additionally, lab experiments demonstrate the potential and limitations of controlled studies of moral injury and facilitate an understanding of the aetiology of moral injury in a way unavailable to clinicians. Finally, experimental findings and methodologies offer further insights into the genesis of moral injury and avenues for therapy and prophylaxis. HIGHLIGHTS: In three controlled experiments among participants with varied combat experience, morally injurious events characterized by killing innocent suspects triggered a greater degree of moral injury and related moral emotions than events characterized by killing non-innocent suspects.