Citation

Frink DD, Rose GM, Canty AL. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2004; 34(1): 85-107.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02538.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

On April 12, 1995, a bomb exploded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, destroying a federal office building, killing 168 people, and upending American notions of safety and security in the heartland. Using data collected before, immediately after, and 1 year after the bombing from 3 samples living within 25 miles of the explosion in a naturally occurring quasi-experiment, research examined effects of values on people's worries in the context of a macrolevel traumatic event. High self-transcendence and conservation values correlated with higher macro-worries immediately after vs. before the explosion, but these worries were lower 1 year later. Findings indicate that values emphasizing broader social perspectives were associated with higher macrolevel worries, while values emphasizing one's own life and welfare were not.