Trigger warnings are designed to protect audiences from distressing content, but new findings suggest they might be doing the opposite.
They have been applied widely across media, including podcasts, television and social platforms like Instagram, trigger warnings often appear as blurred screens or verbal disclaimers.
But according to emerging research, they may be fuelling curiosity rather than caution.
Would you click a video with a trigger warning at the top?
On Wednesday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with Victoria Bridgland, a researcher from Flinders University whose PHD looks at the emotional and behavioral effects of trigger warnings.
“I’ve done a lot of studies on that… people typically, it’s like 80 per cent to 85 per cent will want to know what’s underneath this photo,” Bridgland said.
In controlled studies involving graphic imagery, researchers found that around 50 per cent of participants chose to reveal every disturbing image shown.
“And then you ask them why. They say it’s more curiosit…because they’ve got this blurry screen and they want to know what’s underneath,” she said.
“Even though they know it’s going to be bad, it’s going to lead to them feeling worse.”
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