Commenting from Afar: Psychological Distance and Empathy in Reddit Responses to School Shootings

Abstract

This study investigates the social media discourse surrounding school shootings, with a focus on how empathy is expressed in response to traumatic events. Using Reddit data related to school shootings, we identify a non-linear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between the frequency of death-related mentions in posts and the empathy expressed in subsequent comments. This pattern is particularly pronounced when the event discussed is temporally proximate (i.e., low temporal distance) or when commenters use more first-person pronouns (i.e., low social distance). Grounded in Terror Management Theory and Construal Level Theory, this research empirically examines how death-related language in posts influences online grieving and empathic response. Notably, our findings suggest that psychological distance functions as a buffering mechanism moderating rather than impeding the expression of empathy in digital spaces.