Abstract:
The power of visual imagery is well known, enshrined in such
familiar sayings as “seeing is believing” and “a picture is worth a
thousand words.” Iconic photos stir our emotions and transform
our perspectives about life and the world in which we live. On
September 2, 2015, photographs of a young Syrian child, Aylan Kurdi,
lying face-down on a Turkish beach, filled the front pages of newspapers
worldwide. These images brought much-needed attention to
the Syrian war that had resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths
and created millions of refugees. Here we present behavioral data
demonstrating that, in this case, an iconic photo of a single child had
more impact than statistical reports of hundreds of thousands of
deaths. People who had been unmoved by the relentlessly rising
death toll in Syria suddenly appeared to care much more after having
seen Aylan’s photograph; however, this newly created empathy
waned rather quickly.We briefly examine the psychological processes
underlying these findings, discuss some of their policy implications,
and reflect on the lessons they provide about the challenges to effective
intervention in the face of mass threats to human well-being.